Dungeons and Dragons
by Hatsu Yukiya
Summary: Sailing to a Northern country, Rapunzel and Eugene's ship is attacked and they are stranded on an unfamiliar island. With the king and queen missing, they will need to rely on the inhabitants of the island to get back home. Co-written with LionshadeSC
1. Chapter 1

Rapunzel looked reminiscently out on her balcony, her short spiky brown hair stirring gently in the winter breeze. A long sigh came from her as she shuddered slightly as the wind brushed against her bare skin. She wore her usual, a silky lavender dress that flowed down to her feet, which were now covered in thick wool socks to keep them warm. She had forgotten to bring out some sort of covering for her arms though.

She was awoken from her daydream when a coat was placed around her shoulders. The girl looked over to her boyfriend, who looked down at her, smiling gently. She responded with a bright smile, "Hey Eugene."

"You okay?" he asked softly, kneeling down in front of her, his eyes concerned. He reached up a hand to bury it in her dark hair, twining his hand through it so the strands curled around his fingers. She smiled at him.

"Yeah I'm fine." Her light green eyes looked up happily in to his dark brown ones. "Are you okay?"

"I'm wonderful," he told her softly. But as he spoke his voice was a slightly tremulous. He licked his lip nervously. This caught Rapunzel's attention.

"Eugene?"

"Rapunzel," he said softly, shifting his knees so that he was only resting on one. He started to reach in to his pocket, and he pulled out a soft velvet box. Rapunzel felt her face redden, and her heart began to pick up speed.

"I love you more than anything," he said to her gently. "You're the most beautiful girl in the world and I want to treat you like the princess you are and are meant to be, will you marry me?"

Shocked silence stretched between the two for a few seconds. Rapunzel's heart grew as she longed to say yes, but something heavy was still on her heart. "Oh Eugene," she said softly. Tears threatened to break the barriers of her eyes but she pushed them back. Her heart thudded with overwhelming emotion and she placed her hands over her heart as if to calm it. "I-I really want to, but, but- I'm still not ready."

The rejection affected the man's face, and sadness glimmered in his eyes. He slowly put the box back in his pocket, cleared his throat and stood up. "Y-Yes of course. I understand."

"Eugene I-" Rapunzel started, pain ripping her heart. She reached forward to grab his sleeve, and he considered brushing her off, but he paused and looked down at her, hurt lingering in his dark brown eyes. They met her own and she brought his hand to her lip to kiss it. "I love you too, and I don't know how to respond to your kindness and devotion and loyalty to me, you're all I could ever hope and dream for, but. . ." She looked up at him.

He finally did pull away from her. "That's just another way to say no," he whispered.

"Eugene," she started, but the man walked away, frustration and sadness emanating from him. Each step he took from her made his throat burn more as he held back the tears. Pascal hiding in a potted plant watched the man walk away before jumping down and scurrying over to Rapunzel, who had her own small tears dripping down her face. He bounded up in to her lap and crept up her shoulder to nuzzle her face gently. She looked down at him and pet her chameleon gently, her eyes grieved. "Oh Pascal. . ."

The little reptile let out a reassuring croak and placed a claw on her face, wanting to tell her everything would get better soon.

**xXx**

Eugene kicked the dirt as he walked outside of the castle. He took a glance up at the balcony high above him, and he glanced to the side as Maximus came up to him and gave him a questioning glance, but it was answered when the man gave him a sad and defeated look. The horse neighed to him in comfort and nudged him with his shoulder. Eugene gave a half smile at him and started walking. He'd see them later.

**xXx**

Eugene walked back in to the castle, giving one of the guards a salute, who returned it with a smile. "Sir, welcome back."

"Thanks. I won't be long."

He was in long though. The king and queen of the kingdom had invited him to dinner, as per usual. There was hardly a day that they didn't have him over for dinner or lunch or breakfast. Rapunzel and Eugene avoided eye contact as they walked in to the room and took their places at the table. The mother, sensing the tension in the room, began to speak up.

"So, Eugene, we're going to be taking a trip soon."

"A trip?" he looked up, half interested. "Where to?"

"We're going to the north, to speak to the leader of a country there. His country has many good things for trade that our kingdom could use as does theirs," Rapunzel's mom explained. Her husband merely grunted in response. He didn't talk much. "We'll be going by boat."

"Oh. How long will you be gone?"

"About a month. It'll take a little while to get there."

"Oh," Eugene picked at his potatoes. He had been hoping it wouldn't be that long.

"Eugene," the mother said gently. "We'd like to take you with us."

This brought the two youngsters to attention. "Wait, what?" Rapunzel said.

"Yes." The mother smiled. "You're basically part of the family now. We'd like for you to come. I know it's only been a year since we found our daughter, but we're still grateful to you, and we think of you as a son already."

Eugene bowed his head. "Thank you very much Your Majesty, but is it really okay if I come along with your family to-"

"Oh don't be ridiculous of course it's okay," she said kindly in a quick way. The family began to finish the food, Rapunzel avoided Eugene's gaze pointedly. When he looked to her, she didn't even glance at him.

"The boat leaves tomorrow at noon. That should be enough time for you two to get packed up."

**hey guys this is LionshadeSC, just call me lion, its faster. X3**

**so I know Hatsu Yukiya in real life and it was her idea to write a collaborative piece as a crossover between Tangled and How to Train Your Dragon, and she said I could start the first chapter. :3 if you came here from my channel, thank you so much. I loves you. :D if you havent, go over there anyway and check out some of my own stuff if you liked this chappie. Thank you for reading! :D**

**Hello this is Hatsu~! Lion and I are writing a collab here that is obviously on my account -_- Lion is awesome and allows me to bug her while she's trying to read or knit or play Assassin's Creed. Lion wrote this chapter but we'll be switching off :3 the difference between the two of us is that I like to use profanity. I won't thought. Keeping it PG. Annnyyyywayyyys, thanks for reading and please review! We will continue if we get even ONE review!**

**Oh, also, the name "Dungeons and Dragons" comes from the actual Dungeons and Dragons. I don't own that. The reason I named it that will be clear later, but until then...god, I'm such a plagierist. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Somewhere in the kingdom**

Two men stood together, whispering quietly.

"Okay then, so do you get the plan?" the first whispered.

"Yes I understand. Get the girl and her parents. Kill anyone elsewho gets in the way. Get on one of the lifeboats and row to to the west, where we'll get picked up from da boss. After that its straight ahead to Berk."

"Attaboy," the first one said proudly. "Now go get in your costume. You need to be convincing. Good luck brother."

**Later that day**

Eugene helped load up the rest of the crates and supplies needed for the trip. Since the queen and king were traveling on this boat, it was huge and extravagant. There was much needed for this voyage. His muscles strained pleasantly, enjoying the feeling of using them. It had been a long time since he used his strength. It felt good. A part of him still missed the adventure and excitement of being a anxiety before the operation and the pure rush of adrenaline after stealing it and bolting full speed out of where it was kept.

He shook his head. No. He was much happier here, with Rapunzel, and the king and queen. He liked living here.

But he paused, staring up at the castle. Well, he could be happy here, but, how would he be able to without having Rapunzel alongside him?

He felt himself go deeper into thought. Perhaps, if him being with her didn't work out, he could go back to being a thief. . .

"Hey, pretty boy, hurry up!" a gruff voice sounded.

"Oh, sorry," Eugene passed over the crate to the large man and hopped down off of the docks. Everything had been packed up. It was time to get on board.

At the loading place, he found Maximus waiting. Eugene walked up to him and placed a hand on his nose. "Hello old friend. I'll be back in a month or two. Keep good care of the kingdom while the rest of us are gone okay? Keep everything running."

The white horse nickered appreciatively and stood a little more proudly. While the king and queen were gone, Max would be in charge of security within the kingdom. Of course by now it was useless, there were hardly any more criminals. But if it would keep the kingdom at peace, it was worth it.

Eugene smiled at the horse, silently reminding himself that if he were to go back to the life of a thief, Maximus and he would no longer be friends, and back to enemies they would go.

_I don't want that to happen, but I don't know how to do anything else but steal. I don't want to be a farmer, or a peddler. It sounds so boring. I'd have to go back to being a thief. Maybe I could be an explorer, go into the north. At least that would be exciting. . ._

Letting out a burdensome sigh, Eugene slumped up to the boat, collapsing on his bunk where he fell asleep until nightfall.

**Later that night**

"Where are you off to Your Highness?" Rapunzel's servant asked. He had carried in her bags without so much as breaking a sweat and had been concerned for her safety the entire boat ride long.

"I'm just going to go look at the stars," the brunette smiled a thim. "Don't worry about me. I won't fall off the edge. The sea is calm tonight, there's no moon, and the stars are out. Besides, the railings are made so its nearly impossible to fall off. I'll be perfectly safe. You get some rest."

He bowed his head. "Thank you Your Highness."

She smiled faintly and walked out to the deck. Her parents were below, probably already asleep. Pascal rested on her shoulder, nearly asleep himself.

Rapunzel walked to the rail, leaning against it and staring out. The stars glittered high above her, and her mind drifted to that night with Eugene, on her birthday, his face so close to hers, his hazel eyes gentle and caring. They melted her heart, those eyes.

A wave of fresh guilt came upon her as she recalled the rejected proposal. Oh how she wished she could have said yes! But, she wasn't ready . . . how frustrating.

The girl looked up as another joined her. Eugene stared out at the stars, his hands on the railing, holding them tightly, his knuckles a pale white. Rapunzel looked at his hand, avoiding his gaze out of embarrassment. At last her beau let out a shaky breath. "I-I'm sorry."

She looked up. "What?" Pascal stirred on her shoulder. He was awake for this.

"I'm sorry for, for getting frustrated. It was just that I was solooking forward to. . ." he trailed off, not finishing his sentence. His face was turning red faintly. Rapunzel felt her heart stir.

"'Looking forward to'. . .?" she urged.

Eugene could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He was terrified of how she would react. "Looking forward to you, being mine."

Rapunzel widened her eyes. "Being, yours?"

Oh it sounds so bad when she says it that way, Eugenethought to himself in defeat. "I-It's just that, I don't wantanyone else to have you. I want to, I wanted to make sure that Icould rest knowing that you were mine and mine alone. I-I get reallyjealous, ah, really easy."

"'Yours'?"Rapunzel merely responded quietly, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. She looked up at him, her green eyes glistening. She blinked back the tears, biting her bottom lip in excitement.

"I know it sounds horrible that way but-" Eugene started, stopping when her small warm hands took one of his, holding it close.

"I-I just thought you wanted me, because, of who I was," she murmured in response. "I thought you just wanted to marry me because I was a princess and that I was wealthy. . ."

"Wh-What?"he sounded confused, shocked. "No! No never! I would never. . .Never!" Words failed him. Rapunzel giggled.

"And you should know by now Eugene, I'm already yours, and I always will be."

He let out a soft and relieved sigh. Rapunzel smiled up at him and tucked a strand of his soft hair behind an ear. He smiled down ather, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. She began to say sternly,"Eugene, don't even-"

He leaned down, his hand holding her waist, and he touched his lips to hers. Rapunzel smiled, the protest dying on her lips, and wrapped her small arms around his neck, the end of her dress fluttering gently inthe wind. Eugene held her firmly yet loosely, a sense of peace descending on his soul.

Everything would be all right.

From somewhere on the boat, there was a scream, a gunshot, and another scream. The couple parted from each other and stared in shock at aman who appeared. Rapunzel gasped as she recognized the man who had been her attendant. He held a frying pan in his hand that was tinted at one end in blood. She took a step back, Eugene stepping forward and putting her behind him. "Stay back Rapunzel," he said darkly, glaring at the man ahead.

"I don't think so buddy. I think I have the advantage," he held the frying pan, a sinister look in his eyes. "If you just step asideand let me take that little thing over there," he gestured toRapunzel with the frying pan, "then I'll just take her and be on myway."

"No,"Eugene heard her whisper. All of her worst dreams were coming true, that the people she cared for would get hurt because of her mysterious power from the sun. Mother Gothel had warned her about this. Even if she had been evil, it was true.

"No,"she said again, a little louder, feeling like she was going in to denial. Eugene stepped back at the approaching of the man, causing Rapunzel to press her back up against the railing. "Uh- Eugene-"

"Yeah I know," he growled, irritated. How were they supposed to get out of this?

The man was closer, and began to raise his arm to bring down the frying pan.

In that moment, Eugene made a hasty and rash decision. There were risks, but it was their only chance.

He jumped up, wrapping an arm around Rapunzel's waist as he hoisted her up, holding her close. His feet grabbed on to the railing and launched him and her off and in to the dark and open sea. Rapunzel squeezed her eyes shut and entrapped Pascal in her hands as they fell for her to absorb the impact.

They hit the water, and Rapunzel was instantly aware of just how cold it was. Her head started tobreak for the surface, preparing to let out a huge gasp for air, but Eugene's hand slapped over her mouth firmly and silently. "Shh!"he silenced her quietly. "You can't make a sound. Can you swim?"

She nodded. His eyes bore in to hers. "Now you have to be very, very,very quiet. Even the softest noise can alert them. We need to make sure all they hear are the waves. We have to be in rhythm with the ocean. Slow, smooth and silent strokes. I can tell there's an island in the distance."

Rapunzel looked out in the direction he implied to. She could only see darkness. He must be used to being in the dark a lot. . .

Suddenly, filled with the thought of sharks and anything else lurking below her, she held Eugene's hand as it slipped from her mouth. "But the sh-"

"We're too far north for sharks and too down south for killer whales," he whispered instantly. "The only thing up here is fish, harmless eels and maybe a whale or two passing by. Nothing to worry about.

"Everybody quiet!" they heard from the ship above. Without Rapunzel realizing it, the ocean current had started pulling them near to the island, further from the ship and the light it cast. "Everyone be quiet! I need complete silence if I am to hear them."

Eugene squeezed her hand, "This way,"he whispered.

Rapunzel gave him Pascal, who climbed on to his shoulder. She knew he would be safer there with Eugene just in case something would happen.

Very slowly, they began to swim slowly and silently to the island that Eugene was sure was there.

**on the ship**

"THEY ESCAPED?"a voice roared.

The one who had been in charge nodded nervously. It had been rather easy to kidnap the parents. They had been asleep in their beds when he gave them a good clunk on the head, and the princess would have been easy too, if that stupid boyfriend of hers wouldn't have been there. Why did someone always have to get in the way?

"Y-Yes sir. They escaped." But the men had taken complete control over the royal ship easily. The men acting as guards here were pathetic, the crew worthless gits. Taking over it had been nearly too easy.

The man let out a growl of frustration, grabbing an axe nearby and throwing it madly at the door where it landed firmly there. "Odin curse it!" he roared. He whipped around, beating his fist against the table. "At least we have the parents."

"Wh-Where to now sir?"

"To Berk. We'll get the dragons, and after that we'll search for her using them. They couldn't have gotten far."

"Yes sir."

"Get the crew working. Keep the prisoners down in the brig. Tell them as long as they do what we say, we won't feed them to the sharks yet."

"But sir there aren't any sharks around," the lower ranked man pointed out nervously.

The leader glared at his subordinate in annoyance, "They don't know that though do they?"

"Oh. Oh! Yessir!"

"Ugh," he rolled his eyes.

"And don't we aim to kill them anyway sir?"

"Of course we do. But don't tell them that."

"Why not kill'em now?"

"We will after we accomplish everything we need, when they're no more use to then we don't know. But if the situation arises that we must dispose of them, we will, and quickly."

"Yes sir."

"Now go. Perform your orders."

"Yes sir." The man left in a hurry, closing the door behind him and finally allowing himself to wipe the sweat from his brow.

Sometimes he wished he would have been a farmer, like his mum told him to.

**the next morning**

Rapunzel opened her eyes, rubbing the saltwater that was there. She shivered as she looked in to Eugene's face, still asleep with one arm over her, keeping her close. After swimming what felt like an eternity, they had finally reached the island with sore muscles, salt water swimming in their mouths and their ears clogged with it. Their eyes hurt from it coming in to their eyes as well. They had collapsed on to the sandy shore, too tired to continue on and even get some decent shelter.

She let out a shaky sigh and inched closer to him. Pascal was asleep between them, curled up against her arm. Rapunzel moved her hand to his shoulder."Eugene, Eugene wake up."

He didn't, sighed and rolled over, looking in to two gleaming light green eyes. She gasped and Eugene was suddenly awake, pulling her away from the beast. It was large and black, with a wide face, short legs but wide and spines going along its back and down its tail,where instead of two black pieces of skin, was a red one on one side with skulls on it. Not only that but this strange creature had two large and powerful wings set upon its back. Around its torso and back was strapped what looked like a harness and a seat, as if it was ahorse.

"A-A dragon?"Rapunzel gasped. "I thought they were extinct!"

"Guess not,"Eugene said, watching the dragon carefully. It tilted it's head at the pair, letting out a trilling sound from its throat. It walked forward cautiously, its nose twitching gently.

The pair took a few tentative steps back, worry in their eyes and fear pumpingthrough their veins. A voice sounded from the forest beyond the creature. "Toothless? What'd you find boy?"

A young boy around15 or 16 came out. He was small, skinny, had red hair and had a fur vest over a light green shirt that was way to big forhim, comfortably fit brown pants and large fur boots. He looked much warmer and dryer than they did. He paused, staring at the washed up foreigners. He came to the dragon calmly, placing a hand on it."Who are you?" he asked.

"Uh-" Rapunzelstarted uncertainly.

"I'm Eugene and this is Princess Rapunzel. She's the next in line for the SunKingdom."

"You're from the mainland?" he asked, blinking. His eyes forked over them and he blinked again, deciding they were okay. "Uh, come on then. We'll take you to our village. It isn't very far. Toothless," he addressed the dragon, who looked at him upon the name. "Go and tell the others to get a spare house ready."

The dark dragon nodded and took off in to the forest, going by land and not by sky.

"Follow me," the teen said. He gestured for them to come. "It's not far."

"Where are we?" Rapunzel asked, finding her voice.

"Berk."

**so hatsu lost her flash drive with the second chapter so she asked me to write this one. I took one for the team lol XD jk I love doing this. Anywayz, yeah I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Keep reading! :D and yay for long chapters! woot woot! :D**

**I didn't lose it, Lion, I put it through the wash on accident. Geez.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, it's Hatsu this time around. Finally. I GREATLY APOLOGIZE for the wait in between updates and I can honestly say it's my fault. I put my flash drive through the wash and had to wait to get a new one, and I did and I had a million things typed up and ready to publish, everything was beautiful and hunky-dory...and the stupid brand new I-am-not-going-to-swear-in-a-PG-rated-fic flash drive decided to randomly stop working. Why? Beats the hell out of me. And yes, I can get away with saying that because if HTTYD got away with it, I can too. But for right now I can put my extremely peeved feelings aside and just type it up here. Enjoy. This chapter's pretty long and dialogue-heavy though, so...sorry. Exposition! :D**

Eugene Fitzherbert had been in quite a few interesting situations throughout his life. Granted, nearly all of them had taken place during a two-day span the previous year, but still. He had been healed by seventy feet of golden hair, seen a bar full of thugs spontaneously burst into song, and watched a woman age from thirty years to the several hundred she truly was in just a few seconds.

He had even died once.

But even Eugene had to admit that the current predicament he and Rapunzel had gotten themselves into was a new one. Never before had they set sail to a far off land, been attacked, jumped off the ship, and woken up on the shore of an unfamiliar island with a thought to be extinct dragon staring them in the face. Yep, definitely interesting.

Rapunzel and Eugene were following the boy they had met into the forest, walking a ways behind him. He walked with a limp, Eugene realized, and looking down he saw that the boy's left leg ended under the knee with a hooked metal prosthetic. Wonder what happened there, Eugene thought to himself, but refrained from asking. It was probably a gruesome story and he really didn't handle those well. It was more Rapunzel's thing, odd as it seemed. No matter what the story, she wanted to hear it.

Eugene snuck a glance at the smaller girl. Rapunzel's wide eyes were constantly moving, taking in their surroundings. Her face was pale and her dark hair, currently housing Pascal, stuck to her face with damp sand. She caught his eye and gave him a shaky smile which failed to cover up her anxiety.

"You okay?" he asked her softly. "Yeah," Rapunzel sighed. "Just a little...you know?" When Eugene nodded his agreement, she continued with "I mean, we don't know where we are, or where my parents are, or why we were attacked..." Rapunzel trailed off again. Truth be told, she had a pretty good guess why they had been targeted. Her power. They had thought it had been cut off with her hair, but what if it wasn't? What if she still had some, lying dormant and waiting for a chance to be used? She shuddered against her will. After she had been returned home, it had felt like everything that made her different was gone. Rapunzel had always felt the presence of her power, and when it had disappeared she had felt empty somehow. Like a piece of her had died. And as far as she knew, the only people who knew about her hair were herself, Eugene, and her parents. Gothel was, of course, dead, so Rapunzel didn't count her.

But how do I know Moth-Gothel didn't tell anyone else? she thought with a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. She left all the time, and I never did. Gothel could have had friends. Maybe she wasn't just hiding me from my parents, but from others who knew as well? And they think I still have it.. It wasn't a theory Rapunzel liked in the slightest, but it was the only one she had.

Eugene noticed her change in demeanor, and gently grabbed her hand. "Hey," he murmured. "We're going to figure this out. We'll find your parents; I'm sure they're around here somewhere. They might even be at the village already." Rapunzel didn't particularly believe that, but she smiled at him gratefully anyway. He tried his best.

"So," her beau said loudly to the boy walking ahead of them. "Where are we going?" He looked over his shoulder at them, surprised at the sudden acknowledgement. He had been politely pretending to not hear a single word they were saying. Pushing his dark auburn bangs out of his eyes, he replied, "I told you. To my village, Berk. I sent Toothless ahead already."

"Are weird names common in your village?" Eugene asked, earning himself a nudge in the ribs from Rapunzel. What? Who in the name of the sun names a freaking dragon Toothless?

Needless to say, the two of them were understandably shocked when the boy nodded with an affirmative "Yep."

Eugene just stared. "Are you for real right now?"

"Yeah. My name's Hiccup, by the way."

He couldn't help himself. Eugene actually snorted this time around. Hiccup, seriously? What kind of island had they ended up on? He silenced himself after Rapunzel's elbow sent him a sharp jab for his trouble. "Sorry," Rapunzel apologized. "He can be kind of dumb sometimes."

Hiccup sent her a friendly grin. "We actually get this sort of thing a lot. The old Vikings who first settled here believed that if they gave their children unusual names it would scare away trolls." He rolled his eyes. "It's kind of a tradition now. And pointless. Trolls never really hurt anyone."

The Coronans fell silent at this, pondering the exact meaning of that last statement, and were interrupted by a crashing resounding through the woods. A moment later, the dragon Toothless appeared in front of them looking excited.

"Toothless, your'e back?" Hiccup said. "I thought I told you..." Toothless was making gestures with his head towards the sky. Looking up, the three humans saw a dark shape circling overhead. After a few seconds, the shape became the dark outline of a dragon making its descent. A loud "Hey!" came from above.

"You brought Astrid," Hiccup commented. Then he paled, turned to Toothless, and practically shouted, "You brought Astrid?" The dragon nodded its black head proudly. "Oh jeez," the teen said, running his hands through his hair, his dark green eyes moving from the dragon to Eugene and Rapunzel apprehensively.

"Hold on," Eugene said. "What's the big deal?"

His question was answered a moment later. A slight blond figure jumped off the back of the large blue dragon and marched towards Hiccup wearing an angry expression.

"Heyyy, Astrid..." Hiccup said with a slight tremor in his voice. He put on what he thought was a winning smile. It didn't work.

The girl, Astrid, shot a single venomous glare towards the Coronans, and hissed "You."

"Uh, me?"

"Why," she snapped, jabbing Hiccup in the chest with a single finger, "does everything interesting always happen to you?" On the last word, she poked a bit too hard. Hiccup lost his balance and he fell backward as his left leg gave out. Toothless, who was behind him, loyally prevented his master from landing in a mud patch. "Oh yeah," Hiccup shot back with a hard edge to his voice. "We can totally use the word 'interesting' to describe what happens to me."

Astrid remained silent and seemed to regret saying anything. She grabbed Hiccup's hands and helped him stand up steadily, apologizing softly when he was up.

"I hate this thing," he muttered, gazing darkly at his prosthetic.

"Are you alright?" Rapunzel asked him worriedly.

"Fine. Astrid, this is..." Hiccup introduced the two of them, and described how he had found them on the beach. "I was going to see if my dad knew what to do," he finished. Astrid nodded. "Good idea. The chief will probably be able to figure something out."

"Whoa, whoa," Eugene cut it. "The chief? Your dad?" This scrawny kid's parental unit was the chief?

"Yeah. My dad's Chief Stoick the Vast. You'll see why he's called that when you meet him."

They walked for a few more minutes making light conversation, with the two dragons moving along next to to their respective humans. Astrid's dragon, whom Astrid identified as Stormfly, was grooming itself as it went.

"Look sharp people, we're here," Astrid announced. They had arrived at the edge of the forest. A sturdy-looking village loomed ahead of them. "Right," Eugene said with false optimism, "let's get going."

Berk was unlike any place Rapunzel had ever been. Dragons soared through the sky and lounged on top of solid wood huts. People were everywhere, building what looked like massive stables. A few teenagers around Hiccup and Astrid's age were flying their own dragons, and looked like they were teaching others how handle their own jerky mounts. Some people called out a greeting to Hiccup, which he awkwardly returned. More often than not, though, all they got were stares. Rapunzel wasn't too bothered by that, even though she was a stranger. After she had reclaimed her place as the princess of Corona people had stared at her on the streets for months.

Eugene was more uncomfortable. As a former thief he had always taken extra care not be seen, on and off the job. All the eyes now made him twitchy. There was another reason, too, but he really didn't want to share it. The people here were huge! Men, women, even the kids! The only exceptions appeared to be Hiccup and Astrid. Eugene liked to consider himself well-built, but this whole environment made his manhood feel threatened.

Hiccup led them over to a building smaller than the others. Hammering sounds drifted from the open door and heat seemed to radiate from the whole place.

"Hey Gobber," he called. The pounding stopped and a large mustached head poked itself out of the door.

"Hiccup!" Gobber said from around his fake tooth. "Thor's hammer, lad, where have you been? You were supposed to be in for work hours ago."

"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry, won't happen again. Look, something came up and I need to know where my dad is. Do you know?"

Gobber looked over at Hiccup's entourage, his eyes resting on the two foreigners. Deciding to deal with things as they came, he said "Mornin' Astrid."

"Morning Gobber."

"I don't 'spose you could tell yer boyfriend here to be on time every once in a while?"

Hiccup and Astrid gave identical spluttering sounds.

"Gobber!"

"He's not my...!"

"She's not my girlfriend! I mean...not really..."

"Not officially! We're still-"

Both of them seemed to realize what they were saying and broke off abruptly. Behind them, Rapunzel tried to cover up her smirk and Toothless warbled in amusement. Gobber raised his eyebrows and just said "Teenagers."

"Shut up," Hiccup snapped, his face bright red. "So do you know where Dad is or not?"

Gobber rolled his eyes. "No need to get snappy, lad. I think Stoick had to run up to yer house for something; see if you can find him there."

"Thanks," Hiccup grumbled. "This is just great. We get to climb the hill now."

"Quit yer whinin', if it's important you should be more willing to walk places. Normally you just fly."

"Because walking's still hard!"

"Because you always fly places rather than make the effort! If you just tried it would get easier. You," Gobber pointed his hook hand at Toothless, "Make sure he keeps both feet on the ground, got it?"

Hiccup groaned and gestures for Rapunzel and Eugene to follow him. "It's later than I thought," he said. "We should try to hurry." Looking around, Eugene saw he was right. The air was cooler and shadows were getting longer. He and Rapunzel must have been passed out on the beach longer than they thought.

"Do you need any help?" Astrid was asking Hiccup. As they made their ascent up the hill-a large house was now visible resting at the top of it-Hiccup's limp had become more pronounced. His hand was gripping Toothless for support and he was leaning heavily against the dragon.

"What happened to your leg?" Rapunzel asked. She had been uncharacteristically quiet until now, and Eugene was relieved to hear her voice again.

Hiccup grimaced. "A dragon happened."

"One of these ones?"

"No. It was a bit bigger." He laughed dryly.

"A lot bigger," Astrid chipped in. "You wouldn't believe it."

"You'd be surprised the things we can believe in," Eugene quipped. Hiccup gave him an odd look.

"You haven't had your fake leg very long, have you?" Back in her tower, Rapunzel had had a book detailing various medical procedures and it had made it clear that an amputee victim had trouble walking for months afterwords.

Hiccup shook his head. "Only about six months. I'm still trying to get used to it."

"Your doing really well," Rapunzel told him encouragingly.

"Thanks." He smiled gratefully.

Nearing the house, Astrid said "Do you think you can handle the stairs?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Wait here while I go get Dad. I swear I'll be so peeved if he left..."

Hiccup slowly mounted the stairs, reached for the large door handle, and just as he began to open the door it swung open and hit him with a loud smack!

He stumbled back and tripped over the edge of the stairs. Toothless made a surprised noise and lunged forward to catch him as he fell.

This just has to happen to me, doesn't it.

"Jeeeez," Hiccup groaned. "Thanks, buddy. Dad, you have the seriously worst timing in the world."

His dad in question was still standing shocked in the doorframe. He squeezed-literally squeezed-his way out of the house and into the open air.

Eugene stared. And then he stared some more. He was doing a lot of that lately. He thought the townsfolk were monsters? They were nothing compared to this huge hulking mass of a man. He would make the thugs at the Snuggly Ducking look like dwarfs in comparison!

Chief Stoick the Vast, indeed. Vast didn't even begin to cover it.

Rapunzel, of course, thought nothing of it. She was homies with the Duckling thugs. In her mind all big men were the same.

Stoick grabbed his son by the vest and pulled him as gently as a man of his size could to his feet. Hiccup, next to his father, looked even more diminutive than normal.

The chief took in his surroundings, and his brow furrowed when he saw Rapunzel and a gaping Eugene.

"Hiccup," he said in a low, gravelly voice. "I assume there's an explanation for why there are two complete strangers standing in our yard?"

"How do you know we're strangers?" Rapunzel asked curiously. "There are a ton of people here."

Stoick's green eyes met hers and his look softened a bit.

"I know everybody on this island," he told her. "Nothing happens without me hearing about it, right son?" He clapped Hiccup on the back and laughed. Hiccup stumbled forward and Toothless reached to balance him again, but it wasn't necessary this time around.

"Dad, that's actually why I brought them here, to see if you could think of something. There's kind of a situation, I think."

Stoick nodded. "Let's go inside," he said. "You can explain everything there. He looked at Eugene. "Close your mouth, lad. Do you want a Terrible Terror to take a snap at your tongue?"

Eugene's mouth shut audibly.

"I'll go home then," Astrid said, moving toward her Nadder Stormfly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, right?" Hiccup asked her hopefully.

"Duh," she responded, rolling her eyes. She swiftly mounted Stormfly and within moments had disappeared over the hill.

"Let's get inside," Stoick instructed. One by one the four of them and Toothless entered the house. It was warm from the large fireplace and there were a countless number of weapons lining the walls. A narrow staircase led to an upper floor. Stoick took a seat at a round table and motioned for the others to do the same. Toothless went and curled up by the fire.

"So," Stoick said. "What's this about?"

Rapunzel glanced at Eugene apprehensively. He nodded for her to begin.

"Well," she started, "My name is Rapunzel. This is Eugene. We're from an island country way to the south of here, called Corona."

Stoick nodded. "We've heard of you here. Your country's trading skills are impressive."

"Thanks, um, I'm kind of the princess of Corona, my parents are the king and queen..."

Stoick started. "The princess? Why would you be all the way up here?"

"That's the thing," Rapunzel continued. "We-my parents, Eugene, and I-were sailing from Corona to a place called..." she tapped her chin in thought. "Norge! That's what it's called. We were sailing up to Norge to discuss trade or something when we were attacked."

"Attacked?" Stoick's eyebrows furrowed. "By who?"

"We don't know," Eugene said. "It was a night attack; we couldn't see the ship clearly."

Stoick's frown deepened. "Go on."

"We escaped by jumping off the ship and swimming to the nearest island, this place."

"At night?" Hiccup exclaimed. "In the ocean?"

"Yep," Rapunzel said. "Eugene said there was an island nearby, and there was."

"Wow."

"In the end we woke up on a beach here and that's when we met Hiccup and Toothless and they brought us here to the village."

Stoick was silent for a few beats, deep in thought.

"Um, sir?"

He looked up at the sound of Rapunzel's timid voice. Without any preamble, he said "Did you consider it might be Norge itself who attacked you?"

"What?" Eugene yelped. "But we were going there for negotiations!"

Stoick held up a large hand. "Let me explain. Norge is an country we know fairly well; they have their fair share of Vikings, the same as us. Berk isn't on their immediate list of priorities because of how far out our island is, and the same goes for the other tribes around here."

"And because of the dragons," Hiccup pointed out.

"Yes, and the dragons," his father agreed. "We've been in a war against dragons for the past three hundred years. We actually ended that six months ago, and now they're domestic."

"The making friends with dragons thing, and that you said a dragon is the reason you don't have a leg, are those two interrelated?" Eugene asked Hiccup.

"Well, yes...but it's a really long story and you probably don't want to hear it right now."

"Norge didn't want to attack us because the dragons would attack them if they got too close," Stoick explained. "And now it's probably because we can counter attack using the dragons themselves."

"That's cool," Rapunzel said. "But why do you think Norge attacked us?"

"Your parents are the king and queen, right?"

"Right..."

"It's as simple as that. Hostage negotiations."

"Ah," Eugene said. "So they have the rulers of a country and can ransom them off?"

"Right," Stoick replied. "Odds are they targeted Corona because of how wealthy it is. Norge is fairly poor, it makes sense they would try to make some easy money that way."

"Corona has the guards, but not much going for them in the 'military' department," Eugene said. "Norge might have targeted us because we'd be easy to attack."

"Wait, while we were on the ship it seemed like they wanted me specifically," Rapunzel interjected. "I think it's because they wanted my..." she broke off, realizing what she had just said.

"Your what?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Um, i-it's nothing," she stammered. "Not important."

The chief studied her for a few moments. "You're hiding something," he said finally.

"I-I..."

"You don't have to tell us now," Stoick said. "But if we're going to help you we need to know everything you can tell us."

"You'll really help us?" Eugene asked incredulously.

"If we can. We can talk more tomorrow, you two look worn out."

Neither of them has realized how exhausted they were until Stoick brought it up.

"We have a few extra rooms you can use upstairs," Hiccup told them as they rose from the table. "I'll show you to them; my room's up there too. Dad sleeps down here." Rapunzel nodded and rubbed her eyes.

"Hiccup," his father said, "stay down here for a second."

He looked confused, and told Rapunzel and Eugene to go up the stairs and wait for him. At the top, the pair stopped and listened. Eavesdropping may be rude, but they were curious about the situation.

"Son," they heard Stoick say, "whatever comes up, I don't want you or your dragon doing anything dangerous."

"You seriously think I'll do something dangerous or potentially life-threatening?"

There was a pause.

"You really think I will, don't you?"

"Hiccup..."

"You have no faith."

"Listen to me, son! What I'm trying to say is... Don't do anything that could cost you another leg."

"Dad," Hiccup deadpanned. "We're not exactly up against the godfather of all dragons here."

"No," Stoick agreed, "we're up against humans. And you have a bit of a reputation for doing crazy things."

"...okay, point taken. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hiccup called Toothless and he and Stoick bid each other goodnight. Rapunzel and Eugene backed into the hallway as the boy and dragon came up the stairs. Hiccup indicated to two doors on the left side.

"These two are empty," he told them. "My room's at the end down there. If you need anything, knock first or Toothless will jump on you and roar in your face. And trust me, that's scarier than all Hel."

Eugene snickered. It sounded like Hiccup knew that from personal experience.

"Thank you so much," Rapunzel told him, real emotion in her voice. "I don't know where we'd be without you."

He smiled at the two of them. "We'll get everything figured out." Hiccup spread his arms wide. "This is Berk. The place where things get done, because we have stubbornness issues."

"Thank the sun for it too," Rapunzel giggled. "Good night."

Hiccup said the same, and he and Toothless went down the hall.

"Let's get some sleep," Eugene said. "I have a feeling things are going to get rough later."

"Me too. I'll see you tomorrow."

Before she could turn around, Eugene pulled her close to him and pressed his lips against hers. They remained in that position for a moment, and when they broke off Eugene whispered "I love you" in Rapunzel's ear. "I love you too," she whispered back, and her voice choked up. Rapunzel would never forget how fortunate she was to have him.

No other words were needed. Eugene went to his room, and Rapunzel to hers. She nestled into the bed, and was asleep in seconds.

**Loooooong chapter, my gods. For those who don't know, Norge is the name for Norway in...well, Norwegian. Norway's attacking Icelandic islands? That jerk! If he keeps it up Iceland will never call him onii-chan...*COUGH* Hetalia reference XD I ordered the new season the day it was released and it just came in today. It made me happy.**

**Thank you so freaking much to all our reviewers! (Punzie the Platypus, I freaked out when I saw you gave us a review. Gurl, you are seriously like one of my favorite authors on this site, no joke)**

**To our anonymous reviewer, remember when Rapunzel was scared of a rabbit when she first saw it? It's like that. Also, Lion said last chapter that dragons were thought to be extinct to the southern countries, so for us it would be like waking up to a dinosaur staring at you. Would freak anyone out. As for the time differences, I'm just going to say: Artistic license. It's fiction.**

**Thank you for reading! I'll probably write the next chapter as well, unless Lion realllyyyy wants to. I want to even it out (she wrote two, I'll write two, etc).**

**How to Train Your Dragon is the property of Dreamworks Animation and Cressida Cowell. Tangled belongs to Disney.**

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**It occurs to me that I only briefly mentioned Pascal in the last chapter (which clocked in at over 4000 words btw). I'll put him in more this time :) Be aware guys, this chapter is again lots of exposition and dialogue. Boring as hell in summary, but I hope I made it somewhat interesting.**

Rapunzel woke up slowly, her eyes sensitive to the grayish sunlight streaming in through the window. Something soft was kneading the side of her face and when she turned around she saw Pascal's large reptilian eyes staring into hers.

"Hey," she said groggily. "Sleep well?" He nodded and tugged on a lock of her hair, attempting to get her out of bed. Rapunzel sat up, disoriented, not quite remembering where she was. Then the memories of the previous day came flooding back, and she remembered the conversation the night before with a sickened feeling.

"Hey Pascal," Rapunzel whispered softly. "Do you think we were attacked because we're royalty, for ransom, or do you think it was because they knew about my hair somehow?"

Rapunzel and Pascal had long ago come up with a system for communicating with each other. If she asked a question that he could not answer by simply nodding or shaking his head, he would tilt his head or use gestures to indicate which answer he agreed with. He tilted to the left.

"So you agree with me, huh?" the girl asked. "How would they find out about me though?"

Here the chameleon merely shrugged, and Rapunzel sighed in frustration.

"Well, we aren't solving anything by just sitting here," she told him, and slid her feet into the sheepskin boots she received before departing Corona. It was somewhat drafty in the house and Rapunzel was grateful for warmer clothes than what she had back home.

Balancing Pascal on her shoulder, Rapunzel stepped quietly through the silent house into Eugene's room. He was laying on his stomach,

one hand dangling to the rough wooden floor. Rapunzel gently shook his shoulder, to which he responded by groaning but not waking. She frowned and nodded at Pascal. "Your turn," she whispered as he scampered down her arm. "Usual method." Pascal worked his way to Eugene's face, and his long tongue shot out and lodged itself in the man's ear.

Eugene woke with a startled gasp and bolted upright. With a squeal of protest Pascal tumbled down into Eugene's lap.

"What the-" he snapped, shoving a finger in his ear and wiping off chameleon saliva. "Why do we always have to go through this?"

"We wouldn't have to if you would wake up yourself," Rapunzel giggled.

Eugene scowled. "Did I sleep all day?"

"No, it's still morning." Rapunzel retrieved Pascal and carefully placed him back on her shoulder.

"Then why..." Eugene gave up. Arguing with Rapunzel was rarely worth it. He stretched and climbed out of bed. "Have you seen anyone else? It's so quiet. Which is kind of weird considering we're staying with a Viking chief, a teenager, and a dragon."

She smacked him playfully. "Hey, I'm a teenager."

"You're nineteen. You won't be a teenager much longer, and you don't really act like one anymore anyway."

"I'll take your word for it, Mr. Twenty-five."

"You should." Eugene gave a huge yawn. "Let's go see if anyone else is awake."

They stepped into the hall and paused. Silence. The pair proceeded downstairs into a dead-silent room. Deciding to just wait it out, they sat down at the table.

"Are you okay? You look kind of sick." Eugene's eyes were darkened with concern.

Rapunzel's breath rushed out with a huff. "No," she admitted. "I'm very worried, as a matter if fact."

"Last night you started saying something but stopped. What was it?"

Rapunzel's green eyes raised to meet Eugene's brown ones. She couldn't bring herself to hide her worries from him, and before she knew it she was spilling out all her concerns and suspicions, laying them out on the elaborately-carved table in front of her.

"...and what if I'm right Eugene, what if they took Mom and Dad and are trying to lure me there with them? I don't want anyone I love to get hurt because of me and-"

"Stop," Eugene interrupted. "Listen. We don't know anything for sure yet. If they are after your power, they have another thing coming because you don't have it anymore."

"But-"

"And another thing. We aren't alone here, if you hadn't noticed. From the way things are looking we have an entire dragon-riding Viking village backing us up. Besides," he concluded, "whoever took your parents gains absolutely nothing by hurting them, no matter what their motives are, so I honestly don't think we have to worry about that much."

Rapunzel's chin dropped into her hands. "I guess you're right," she said.

"I usually am. Now perk up, the Rapunzel I know doesn't mope around."

Eugene poked her in the side until she was laughing with tears welling up in her eyes. In a moment of silence afterwords, the two of them heard noises coming from the upper floor, then the sound of uneven footsteps coming down the stairs. Step, clunk, step, clunk.

"Morning," Hiccup yawned when he got to the bottom, Toothless close behind. His hair was tousled and his fur vest was missing.

"Good morning," Rapunzel greeted brightly. "Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." Hiccup walked over to what looked like a separate storage area. "Do you guys want anything to eat?"

"What have you got?" Eugene asked back.

"Hm. We've got fish, venison, some vegetables, more fish, and raw fish, which is for Toothless." The dragon's ears perked up when he heard his name and looked eagerly in Hiccup's direction. The teen pulled out a large fish and tossed it in Toothless' direction. Toothless snatched it up and tilted his head back, swallowing it whole.

"Eesh," Eugene said.

"Lucky you get to eat this then, huh?" Hiccup replied, setting dishes of fish and sprouts in front of them. He joined them at the table ad began eating, occasionally tossing a fish to Toothless. Rapunzel did the same, passing up bits of green for Pascal to nibble on.

"Where's your dad?" Rapunzel asked after a few minutes. Hiccup shrugged. "In the village somewhere, busy being chief. He gets up and leaves early."

"That man from yesterday, Gobber, didn't he say you work at the forge there or something?"

"Yeah, but I don't have to today. After...six months ago, I was recovering from losing a foot and I couldn't go work, so he got another apprentice to fill in. We switch off now."

Eugene raised his eyebrows. "You know, it doesn't really seem like we're the only ones hiding something here. What really happened that made dragons best friends with this place and made you lose a foot?"

"It's not like I'm hiding it," Hiccup said, turning slightly red. "It wasn't the greatest part of my life in some places and I just don't like talking about it."

"Hey," Rapunzel said. "Um...could we maybe hear it if we share what we're hiding?"

Eugene cast her a glance like, Are you sure? She nodded slightly. Words Stoick had said the night before were echoing in her mind.

If we're going to help you we need to know everything you can tell us.

Well, now was a good a time as ever, right?

Hiccup was studying her carefully. "So like, equivalent exchange?"

Rapunzel grinned. "Exactly like that." She turned to Eugene and said "Do you want to start? You're the best."

"With all the embellishments?"

"Embellish away."

Eugene smirked. Excellent. "This," he began dramatically, "is the story of how I died."

xXx

"So let me get this straight," Hiccup said, his brow furrowed in concentration. He and Toothless had listened intently throughout all of Eugene's storytelling. "You had seventy feet of hair that had magical healing powers given by the sun itself and a woman kidnapped you to keep herself young for eighteen years until Eugene found you and took you back home? And now you think that your attackers found out about it and think you still have it so they attacked you and are using your parents as bait?"

Rapunzel nodded. "In a nutshell, yes."

Hiccup let out a low whistle. "Well, I guess it's not the most unbelievable thing I've ever heard."

"Really?" Eugene asked disbelievingly. "And what would that be?"

"A hammerhead yak riding a hammerhead whale. Summoned by Thor."

"...I see."

"So if you don't have this power anymore," Hiccup turned back to Rapunzel with the subject at hand. "What do you think will happen when they find out?"

Rapunzel dropped her head into her arms. "I don't know," she moaned. "I'm so worried about that. I bet they're hunting for me right now."

Hiccup awkwardly patted her elbow. "We'll figure something out, don't worry."

Rapunzel laughed dryly and raised her head. "That's what Eugene said. Right now though, I believe you owe us a story."

Hiccup blanched. "Ah..."

"You were trying to get out of it just now, weren't you?"

"Not fair," Eugene said. "I told you about my freaking death, now you tell us about your foot, or lack thereof."

Hiccup opened his mouth, but before he could say anything the front door of the house burst open and people seemed to pour in. Upon closer examination, Rapunzel could see Astrid walking towards them with four other teens around Hiccup's age. She recognized them as the ones riding the dragons and leading others around the day before.

"Hey,"Astrid said. "I brought people."

"You did,"Hiccup said back. He turned to Rapunzel and Eugene. "These are my friends. No, I don't know why they're here."

"We're here because Astrid said there was a really hot girl staying at your house," a muscular dark-haired boy said. The girl next to him, a blond with long thick braids, snorted and retorted "In your dreams, Lout. She's looking way out of your league."

"Shut up, Ruffnut. Stop underestimating my abilities."

"She's got a boyfriend, kid," Eugene told him.

"I'm not a kid. I'm sixteen!"

"She's nineteen. I'm twenty-five."

"Yeah, way out of your league," Tuffnut chipped in.

"Right, well," Hiccup interrupted. "This is my cousin Snotlout"-he gestured to the muscular one-"these are the twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut"- the blond girl and her brother gave identical wicked grins-"and that's Fishlegs." A large blond boy behind them waved back shyly.

"So what's the story here Hiccup?" Tuffnut asked. "You just randomly have a girl and her boyfriend here in your house? Does your dad know?"

"Of course the chief knows, moron." Ruffnut rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, I knew that!" Tuffnut smacked his sister upside the head. After straightening her helmet, Ruffnut grabbed her brother's neck and began throttling him. It probably would have turned into a full-scale brawl had Astrid not walked over, grabbed Tuffnut's wrist, and twisted his arm back with a series of popping noises. Tuffnut gave an enraged roar. "What in Hel's name did you do that for?"

"You were being annoying," Astrid told him in a deadpan voice.

"Well that's no reason to-"

"Excuse me," Hiccup interrupted again. "I still don't know why you are all in my house this early in the morning."

"Astrid was talking about what happened yesterday and Snotlout was all like 'I need to go meet this chick," Fishlegs explained. "And so then Tuffnut agreed and they left and Ruffnut got mad and followed and I came too because I didn't want to be alone."

"Oh, well, that's pleasant."

Rapunzel grinned. It was like being back in the Snuggly Duckling. "My name's Rapunzel," she told the teens. "This is Eugene. We're from Corona."

Snotlout's eyebrows formed a straight line. "Never heard of it."

"Same," the twins said together.

"I have!" Fishlegs said enthusiastically. "It's an island country down south that's really good at trading, right?"

"Right," Eugene said. "We trade stuff like apple harvests and fish."

"Fish is good," Tuffnut commented. Toothless nodded in agreement.

"Right, well, we were attacked and ended up here."

"By who?" Snotlout asked excitedly.

"How many people did you lose?" Ruffnut was grinning broadly. Eugene briefly wondered to himself what kind of upbringing you had to have to look at battle with a big smile on your face.

Hiccup coughed. "Those aren't really the kind of questions you ask people, guys." He turned to the Coronans with an apologetic look. "Sorry, they're idiots."

Eugene shrugged. It wasn't the worst thing he had ever been asked. Rapunzel didn't mind at all, which was the result of having bar thugs as best friends.

"Hey Hiccup," Fishlegs said. "Did you tell them about the Green Death yet?"

"The Green Death?" Rapunzel repeated, her eyes shining. That sounded really exciting.

"What." Ruffnut looked disbelieving, and she stared from Hiccup to Eugene and Rapunzel in shock. "The most epic thing to ever happen on this island in the history of Vikings happened six months ago, and you don't tell people about it?"

"It didn't technically happen on this island," Astrid corrected quizzically.

"Whatever. Some stuff happened."

"Well," Hiccup said, looking irritated. "I was actually about to, before you all busted in."

"Oh! That's great," Snotlout exclaimed. "We'll help!"

The Viking teens settled in around the table and Hiccup started. In between interruptions and the other kids constantly retelling from their points of view, Eugene and Rapunzel were told of the war between Vikings and dragons, Hiccup befriending Toothless, and the climatic battle against the Green Death, a parasitic dragon of monstrous proportions.

"...and the dragon's tail came up and hit us and I don't remember anything after that," Hiccup concluded. "I officially leave it to the others."

"Well, there was all this ash fluttering around after the dragon exploded," Astrid picked up. "And when it cleared up the chief had found Toothless just laying on the ground and nobody could see Hiccup anywhere."

"We all thought he was gone," Snotlout said. He turned to his cousin and told him "That would have been the lamest victory ever, by the way."

"Thank you for caring, Lout."

"And then," Astrid continued, peeved about being interrupted, "Toothless opened his wings and there Hiccup was just laying there. And then Gobber was all like 'most of him' and that's when we found out about his leg."

Rapunzel's eyes were alarmingly wide. She had listened to the retelling with an entranced expression. "What happened next?"

"We salvaged what was left of the ships and came back here."

"Well, the five of us flew on our dragons," Fishlegs said.

"Right," Astrid said. "Can I tell the rest of the story here or do you all want to?"

There was a chorus of "Oh no, go ahead, you're the best." Apparently you don't mess with Astrid.

"Anyway, we got back and all the rest of the villagers were like 'Oh great Odin's ghost, they're riding on dragons'. It took a little convincing but soon everyone else was pretty much accepting the change here. It was surprisingly easy; people were wanting to ride on them after just a couple days." Astrid looked at Hiccup. "It really sucks you missed it."

"Yeah, no kidding. I was out for three or four days," he explained to Rapunzel and Eugene.

"It was four, I remember," Ruffnut said. "Because on the first day after we got back people were still getting used to it, the second day people started wanting to feed the dragons, and on the third day people wanted to actually fly and a Nightmare nearly burnt down the forge and half the docks."

"I never heard about that," Hiccup said, surprised. "You people tell me nothing."

"You heard it now." Ruffnut rolled her eyes.

"So what happened when you woke up?" Rapunzel asked.

"It was surreal," Hiccup said. His eyes clouded with the memory. "When I passed out Berk was engaged in a centuries-long war with dragons, and when I woke up everyone was flying around on them and they were all best friends." He grinned a little. "I was also about a whole foot shorter than I used to be. Which brings us to the present."

"Wow," Rapunzel breathed. "That's amazing."

"It wasn't that amazing," Hiccup said. The five other teens heaved a collective groan.

"You always say that," Tuffnut snapped. "It was freaking awesome!"

"Yeah Hiccup, you need to stop being so modest," Ruffnut said, agreeing with her brother for once.

"But-"

"Shut up," Snotlout advised.

"Keep denying it, Hiccup, and you will receive an axe to the face," Astrid told him. "If it wasn't amazing, then I can beat you in a race."

"Right now?"

Toothless' head popped up and he gave an excited warble.

"Do it," Rapunzel encouraged. "I'd like to see you fly!"

"Same here," Eugene said. "I am impressed against my will."

"It's really cool when Hiccup and Toothless fly fast," Fishlegs quipped. "Toothless has +25 speed and +30 agility in the sky! That's faster than any dragon we know of AND he has +20 firepower-"

"Um, what?" Eugene was totally lost.

"This is what happens when you open your mouth, Legs," Snotlout said to the larger boy. "Do us all a favor and shut up."

Hiccup sighed. "It's too early for this."

"It's almost noon," Astrid told him, raising an eyebrow.

"...I stand by my previous statement."

"Lazy."

"Oh come on," Rapunzel grabbed his sleeve, her eyes shining with excitement. "Please?"

A strange thing happened just then. Hiccup found it was impossible to say no to her.

"Fine," he moaned. "Give me a few minutes, I need to get Toothless' stuff."

He moved as quickly as he could-which was admittedly not much-up the stairs, and not long after he came back down, arms loaded with equipment. There was some cheering and the group traipsed outside. Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs ran off to fetch their own dragons (Astrid had arrived on Stormfly). Hiccup turned to Rapunzel.

"Can you distract him for me?" he asked, gesturing to Toothless. "He doesn't like me putting it on."

"What is it?" the girl asked curiously.

"It's his tailfin," Hiccup explained. "I have to attach it on and then hook it to the saddle."

"Oh, okay. Sure. Eugene," she called over to her beau. "Bring that basket of fish over here."

While Hiccup was busy at Toothless' tail, Rapunzel fed the dragon fish and giggled when he nudged her hand asking for more. "He's so cute," she sighed, scratching above his ears. Pascal glared at Toothless, not happy that his lady's attention was occupied by another lizard. Toothless gave the chameleon an almost picture-perfect imitation of Hiccup's eye roll.

"Done," Hiccup announced, just as the other teens came flying up the hill. He jumped onto Toothless' back, sliding his good foot into one stirrup and hooking his prosthetic into the other.

"Ready?" Astrid asked. The others formed a semi-circle around the two, hovering above the ground for the best vantage point. "I'm ready," Hiccup responded. "Where are we going?"

"Hm...Up, then down to the forge and back. All advantages count in favor."

"Go!" Fishlegs yelled. While Stormfly took a running leap, Toothless fanned out his wings and shot up like a bullet into the sky. He did a few barrel rolls in midair before taking after Stormfly.

Rapunzel gasped. It was lost in the cheers of the teens above. This was...amazing. What would it be like, she wondering, to be going to fast, so high up? She couldn't even imagine the weightless feeling one would get flying through the sky, running your fingers through the feathery clouds...

Next to get, Eugene was standing with a similar astonished expression. They didn't need to look at each other to know that the exact same thoughts were running through their minds.

Astrid and Hiccup were coming back now, barely visible specks in the cloudy sky. The group could see Toothless tuck his wings in, and within moments was plummeting towards the ground in a free-fall. Stormfly leaned into a sharp dive, but she couldn't match the Night Fury's velocity. At the last second, Toothless snapped out his long black wings, catching himself with the wind. He pulled gracefully into the air just as the Nadder came to a halt in midair.

They could see Hiccup and Astrid's faces now. Both were grinning and wearing equally wind blown hairstyles.

"Cheater," Astrid hollered over the wind. They were still too far up for the others to make out what they were saying. "You know Nadders can't free-fall."

"They also can't do vertical takeoff. And weren't you the one who said all advantages count in favor?"

"I lied."

"I smell a sore loser."

"You're wrong," she laughed. Suddenly, her blue eyes narrowed and she looked out into the horizon. "Hey, Hiccup, what do you suppose that is?"

Hiccup followed Astrid's line of sight. A dark line was on the ocean, drawing closer to Berk's docks. "It looks like ships," he said.

Then he looked closer, and his stomach plummeted as though he dropped a thousand miles an hour.

"I take it back," Hiccup whispered. "It looks like catapults."

Then a voice, somehow carrying from the village, up the hill, and into the clouds above shouted:

"We're under attack!"

**Dun dun dunnnn~ Oh my gah, it's the plot! Cliffhanger! **

**GODS, fail chapter is fail. I'm sorry it was so boring. The ending was lame too. I am somewhat relieved that Lion is taking over now, as her writing is much better than mine and she can write an action sequence without massacring the story.**

**Remember last chapter when the door opened and hit Hiccup in the face? Well I was rewatching the movie today (again) and I noticed...it opens the other way. Damn it. Well, whatever. I don't feel like fixing it.**

**Freaking...jeez I fail hard. My writing is horrible.**

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Immediately jumping in to action, Hiccup brought his fingers up to his mouth, letting out a shrill whistle. Toothless jumped over to his friend, bunching his shoulders together in preparation to the fight. Hiccup mounted on the dark dragon, a determined gleam in his eyes. "Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, mount up and hurry! Ruff, Tuff, go get the others, tell them that someone is approaching, and they're going to attack! Hurry!"

Everyone ran to their dragons. Astrid climbed upon Stormfly that showed nothing but experience. She blew her blonde bangs out of her face, glaring ahead at the horizon. "Hiccup, what should we do?"

"Go help prepare everyone else for battle, get all the dragons assembled."

"What will you do?"

"I'll go scout them out, see how tough they are."

A flicker of worry glimmered in Astrid's gaze. "But Hiccup, what if they-"

"What if they what?"

Astrid looked at him, pain lingering from her eyes. "Never mind."

His face becoming more hardened, taking form of the shape of a leader, Hiccup turned to look at the pair of strangers, plus the chameleon. He seemed to battle something in his mind, before ordering them, "You guys go back to the cabin, get to the lowest part of the house, where no windows are. You should be safe there."

"We want to help!" Rapunzel insisted.

"We do?" Eugene asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Rapunzel turned to him. "Of course we do! Eugene, they're about to be attacked, they could use all the help they can get!"

Eugene looked at them, "Don't you think they've got enough help with those dragons?"

The former blonde looked stubbornly at him, turning as Hiccup addressed her, "He's right. We appreciate your offer to help, but we'll be fine. And also," the teen seemed to be turning more and more serious as the seconds ticked by, "these could be the same people who tried to get you two. We can't risk them catching you. We don't know what these people are like anyway, and no offense, but you're not really up to fighting vikings yet, sorry."

Rapunzel looked over her figure, as well as her beau's, as if just noticing how thin they were compared to the stockier locals. Eugene shrugged, grabbing on to Rapunzel's wrist. "Come on Rapunzel, let's do as they say, we wouldn't be much help anyway."

She glared at him in disapproval, only allowing herself to be towed away back to the cabin when he gave her a pleading glance.

The couple closed the door, locking it, then went to the furthest corner of the room. "What's gotten in to you?" Rapunzel demanded, turning on him instantly.

"I learned as a thief that sometimes we have to choose are fights carefully. Turns out that this is one fight I don't think we should get in to."

Rapunzel gave him a hard glare. "We could help Eugene!" she protested, glaring at him stubbornly.

"How? We're noodles compared to them, and you know it. There's probably _nothing _we could do to help."

Irritation brittled inside Rapunzel. She hated being useless, especially when it involved helping others.

"We could probably help somehow," she muttered bitterly.

"I doubt it," Eugene answered, shooting down her hope with those three seemingly harmless words. Rapunzel flinched like she got pinched, throwing him a stingy glare. He smirked at her, a loving gaze showing across his face. "I know you love to help others, but this is something they have to do on their own."

The pair looked over as the sound of battle erupted from outside.

Rapunzel felt her shoulders sink a little.

She felt totally, completely useless.

Outside, Hiccup flew on Toothless towards the ships. The Night Fury flew above the clouds. The pair could make out the ships, listening to their yells, to hear their cries and orders. Toothless flicked his ears in the directions of the ships, both captive by silence when the yells hollered out.

"Load up the catapults! We fire immediately!" the leader bellowed.

"Toothless, get a little lower," Hiccup said quietly. The dragon obeyed, easing a little more below another layer of cloud to get a better view of the scene before them.

The men were stocky, large, about the same size of the vikings of Berk. Hiccup pressed his lips together in a thin line, a sort of nervousness beating through him. They obviously weren't here on peaceful terms; they wanted to fight the vikings.

"Fine then, they'll see how bad they are at fighting when we show up eh Toothless?" Hiccup asked with a smile. "Let's go back to the village to get ready, we could have some fun with this."

Toothless gave a little grunt, opening his wings to pull them forward strongly. Hiccup tightened his grip on the saddle as the black dragon flew at a speeding pace back to land. He slowed as he approached, going in to a turning dive at the ground.

"Is everyone ready?" Hiccup asked as the other vikings bustled about him, getting to their battle stations. Stoic came out just then, hurrying to his son.

"Hiccup!"

"Hey Dad! Are you ready? They have catapults, we need to hurry."

"Son! I want you to stay here, with Gobber."

"Gobber? Why?" the teen asked, looking confused.

"He'll need help with the weapons."

Hiccup gave his dad a strange look. "Dad," his voice started, wary. "You're not . . . I'm going out there to fight okay? I'll be fine."

"Hiccup! Everything's ready!" Astrid called, running up to him.

"Good, get ready now, we have to take out the first blow!"

Right as he finished, a large boulder could be heard crashing in to a building. Some people started yelling out orders instantly. Hiccup yelled to the other teenagers to take their dragons. "Okay come on guys this is it!"

The dragons took to the air. The sound of beating wings mixed with the voices. Hiccup felt more in control now that he was up in the air again, knowing that Toothless would follow his every order. He could feel his friend's pulse as he held on to the saddle. His eyes hardened in concentration. "Okay buddy, lets take out some of those catapults."

Toothless gave a grunt, letting Hiccup know that he understood him. The dragon gave a low growl as he started to release a ball of lightning at the ships.

Of course, that's where they went wrong.

The inky black dragon against the blue sky came as an easy target to the vikings, who spotted him long before Hiccup ordered Toothless to fire. The opposers were ready for them before they even got there.

A hurtling rock flung forward to hit the dragon, who dodged it by barely a hair's width. Hiccup gasped, "Whoa! Good job there Toothless." The rock fell down uselessly in the water far below.

Hiccup glanced back for a second at the island, looking a second too long, then turning back towards the oncoming ships.

Then it was too late.

A huge rock from the catapult collided right with Toothless, careening him off course, sending him straight down in to the water.

Hiccup held on to his dragon as they careened in to the water. Engulfed from the ocean, Hiccup swam up to the surface, breathing in a gasp of air. Toothless swam up with him, letting the teen get on his back. The dragon made a worried noise at Hiccup, who looked at the horizon.

It was too late.

The ships landed.

"Oh, Thor Almighty," he muttered, clambering on to Toothless. The dragon heaved himself out of the water, flying to the mainland. The dragon landed on a rooftop, looking around hurriedly. He roared out, alerting the rest of the village which was busily working away to defend their home.

Hiccup looked over, heart quickening in speed, as the boats hit the shore.

They were huge, about as huge as the Berk natives were. Without any hesitation they released a battle cry, stampeding through the village, axes, hammers and swords raised high.

The people of Berk gladly responded.

Seconds went by. Now no one could tell the difference between a Berk and an attacker, Hiccup knew he couldn't. He flinched, watching from a rooftop on top of Toothless. This is what he hated. He couldn't do anything to help. Even if he wasn't a cripple, he could be no match for these huge, strong, determined attackers. Toothless growled, itching to get in the fight as well, only held back by Hiccup. The dragon wouldn't be good in close combat like that.

Hiccup looked over nervously, freezing when he heard a voice. "Come on Eugene we have to help them!"

Toothless, hearing it as well, whipped around to spy the Coronians sneaking out of the building they were supposed to stay in. Hiccup bristled in anger, steering Toothless towards them. The dragon understood, whipping his wings out to speed towards them.

Rapunzel gasped when the pair landed in front of her. Hiccup glared, "Guys you have to get back inside! It's not safe! If these really are the people who attacked you then it'll be safer for you guys to stay inside!"

"We can't just sit down and let you guys die for us!" Rapunzel objected. She refused to let anyone do such a thing for her.

"It's not safe! Go back inside!"

"You don't have any right to be outside either! You lost a foot _and _you're just a kid!"

Hiccup turned beet red, clenching his fists. "That doesn't make a difference!"

"Got you!"

Hiccup whipped around, eyes wide to see a net hurtling towards. . .

The princess.

As if there thoughts were connected, Toothless jumped up to protect the girl, taking the full blow from the net. It landed right on him, entangling the dragon helplessly. The weights on the corners of it kept it down.

"Toothless!"

"Forget it kid!"

A swarm of vikings ran towards Hiccup and the dragon. A fist landed on his face. The teen fell down, the world around turning black, with Toothless's roar as the last thing he heard.

(**)

When Hiccup awoke, he was back in his room. He sat up slowly, groaning loudly when his head started pounding. He rested his head back on his pillow. Looking over to the side, he met gazes with Astrid. Behind her rested a tearful Rapunzel with a melancholy Eugene.

"What happened?" he murmured.

Astrid was somber faced. "Well we fought them off. Nobody got killed, just some wounds, but they grabbed some things while they left."

"What?" Hiccup mumbled, feeling his head. There was a bandage around it.

"Hiccup."

At his name the teen looked over to Astrid. She bit her lip, as if trying to not cry. He'd never seen her like this before, not ever.

"Astrid?" Hiccup started, now getting worried.

The headstrong teen pressed her lips together. "Hiccup, they took Toothless."

**lol sorry its so late hatsu! xD**

**and sorry its soooooo late. Usually I update my own stories a chapter a day but since im a lazy writer you guys had to wait like 2 weeks. Sorry! **


	6. Chapter 6

Hiccup felt his lungs stop working. The heart beating in his chest seemed to grate to a startled, confused stop. The redheaded teen flickered his gaze over to Astrid. "Wh-What? Th- They took- No they couldn't! No one can keep Toothless locked up that's impossible he's probably the strongest dragon out there!"

"I know Hiccup but they managed to take him," Astrid said softly, sympathy swarming in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but he's gone."

"No!" Hiccup cried out. He started to swing his legs over the side of the bed, stopping only when he felt flashes of pain shoot up his legs. A cry escaped past his lips without permission. He gasped, pressuring a hand on his bad leg. Concern instantly grew in Astrid's eyes.

"Hiccup, is your leg o-"

"It's fine!" he growled past gritted teeth, eyes flaring darkly. He stood up, clenching his jaw to hold back the pain. Astrid tried to make him go back on the bed.

"Hiccup you've just been-"

An unnameable fury coursed up through Hiccup. Turning on Astrid he spat out, "It doesn't matter what's wrong with me I'm fine! We need to go get Toothless!"

Astrid flinched at his harsh tone, glaring at him as he ordered out, "Where are the foreigners?"

She faced him evenly, pointing silently to the corner of the room where the couple sat. Flynn draped his arm across Rapunzel's shoulders. Her eyes were opened wide from the shock, the heat of the battle seeming to have gotten to her.

Walking with a new air of confidence, Hiccup walked up to them. Astrid and the others parted the room for him to pass through them. The blonde licked her lips quietly, watching silently as Hiccup brushed past them. He carried himself in a different light, a feeling of authority radiating from him.

"What were you doing?" he snapped at the two of them, glaring fiercely.

Flynn looked up to the boy. Apology lingered in his eyes. Giving Rapunzel's shoulder a gentle squeeze as he talked Flynn spoke up, "We're sorry for what happened," he murmured. "We both are. I-we didn't mean to-"

"Sorry isn't going to cut it!" Hiccup snapped, eyes black with rage. "Sorry isn't going to bring Toothless back," he said, quieter.

Rapunzel seemed to snap back to reality, bright eyes glancing up to him. She met the eyes of the furious teenager for a moment before lowering her head again in shame as it prickled through her. Because of what her and Flynn did, they cost Hiccup his best friend.

Hiccup's lip gave the slightest twitch as he gazed down at them, bristling madness shooting up through his veins. He clenched his fists, feeling drips of blood seep out as his mind thought of Toothless, alone, helpless, maybe even, dead.

The boy blocked out all thoughts of his friend being dead, lying on the ground with black dragon blood seeping from the cuts on his reptilian body. No he couldn't think that right now. He couldn't.

"Astrid, gather up the others. We're going."

"Hiccup, we can't go. You're hurt and there's others who-"

"Astrid none of that matters!" he snapped, turning on her. "We need to get Toothless back, no matter what!" He favored his bad leg, leaning on his good one.

She glared at him sternly. "You're not fit to go anywhere. We need to stay here."

"We're going!" he replied bitterly. Storming out Hiccup left the room with the others staring hopelessly after him.

(**)

Stoic stared down at his son who hadn't touched any of his food. "Um, are you sure you're okay son?"

"No," he replied bitterly, only glaring glumly at his food.

Stoic sighed, reaching out a large hand to ruffle his son's hair. "It's okay son. Hiccup will be fine. He's a good, strong dragon. Nothing can hurt him."

"When do we go after him?"

"No son. Not we. If any vikings do go out it will be _without _you. With that bum leg you wouldn't be much help to us."

Hiccup let out an exasperated sigh. "Just because I don't have a foot that doesn't make me useful."

Stoic looked to his son strangely, judging the dark cloud that seemed to be hanging over Hiccup. He sighed. "I'm sorry son, that's just the way it is."

The redhead glared, lowering his eyes back to the untouched food. He sighed out through his nose, not saying anything.

That dinner went by without any more words said.

(**)

Hiccup slid out from the window quietly, used to this. He tiptoed to the meeting place on top of the hill. When he stepped forward Astrid, Ruff, Tuff, Fishlegs and Snotlout stepped in to the moonlight, each one with a dragon. Stormfly whirred quietly as Hiccup mounted on to him, letting Astrid up with him. Everyone else rose on to their own dragons.

"Ready?" Hiccup whispered to them all. They nodded, all giving him a thumbs up. Astrid wrapped her arms warmly around Hiccup's waist.

The team looked over as a pair of humans stepped out from the bushes. The Coronians met each of the young vikings' gazes with confidence. Hiccup narrowed his eyes as Rapunzel stepped forward, Eugene walking behind her like a bodyguard.

"We're coming with you."

"The only reason we're leaving is because _you two _caused it," Hiccup growled tartly. He glanced between the pair of them, eyes hard, unmoving and unwavering in his decision.

Rapunzel pressed her lips together. "Well we're coming with either way. We can help you guys."

"How?" Snotlout sneered. "Even Ruff and Tuff are more useful than you, and that's kind of saying something."

"Well we can help!" Rapunzel insisted stubbornly. The brunette crossed her arms. "And if you guys don't let us come with, we'll go tell your parents."

Hiccup narrowed his eyes, glaring fiercely. Sighing he looked over at the others. "Fine," he muttered. He directed each of the Coronians to a dragon. After making sure they were strapped in safely, Hiccup turned his eyes to the dark horizon, holding only stars, the sea, and his friend.

The teen let out a quiet, controlled sigh. Clenching his fists, glaring ahead, he held up his hand for the order. "Go."

Wings spread, pulsing out. With the silent grace of any bird, the creatures soared up to the sky.

(*the next morning*)

Stoic woke up to the shaking of Gobber, who looked at his village chief with a fear in his eyes. "Stoic! Get up!"

"What? What is it?" the leader asked, sitting up, rubbing his eyes with a sleepy fist.

The man swallowed, drops of perspiration making their way down his face. "I-It's the kids, and the Coronians. They- They're gone."

Stoic paused, taking this in. Letting out a wild, furious roar he jumped up, running outside to scan the skies desperately for any sign of the children.

"They took weapons, food, armor, and dragons," Gobber informed, standing beside his friend.

Stoic looked aimlessly up to the sky, clouded and gray.

"They're gone, aren't they?"

(**)

Hiccup felt like he could really breathe now, up here in the pure blue sky. It felt wrong though, almost as if he were betraying Toothless by riding another dragon. Incomplete.

It felt good though, what they were doing. This was progress. Together they could fight against these strangers who stole their friends from them. They'd claim back what was stolen from them.

_Hold on Toothless, we're coming for you buddy._

(**)

The black dragon backed himself in to the furthest reaches of the cage that held him. Made of stone, stronger than any dragon, he lay captive by the intruders.

A large one knelt down to the front of the cage, a satisfied sneer twinged with a smile curled up his face. "Ah, the black one. Good. This almost makes up for the lack of the girl. Good try though. We can do some things do this one." He tossed a bit of meat he was chewing on to Toothless. The black dragon hissed low in his throat, letting out a puff of hot smoke through his nostrils, sending the meat up in a strange green flame. Hitting it with his tail he snapped it at the man, catching a section of the sleeve on fire.

Jumping up the man dusted off his sleeve where the meat burned to a quiet crisp pile of ash. Toothless snorted out a breath, glaring icy green eyes towards his captor. The muzzle around his jaws kept him from growling, but he knew the man got the message.

"Good. I like a little spirit," he muttered to himself, turning around, walking away.

Toothless hated humans.


	7. Chapter 7

**Gyaaaah. Guys. Where did all the reviewers go? Wonder why updates have been slow? In ye olden times, the Germans would often survive famine on nothing but tough bread and beer. Your reviews=our bread and beer. WE ARE STARVING AUTHORS IN A REVIEW FAMINE. In a proverbial sense, of course. Seriously. It had to be said...**

**Enough of my complaints, let's begin chapter six. If Hatsu is being completely honest...it's a total filler :P**

**xXx**

They flew for several hours in the night, only slowing down occasionally. It had gotten incredibly dark over the sea as they went, and the flight seemed endless.

Hiccup's anger seemed to have faded to a sort of silent mourning, and he hardly spoke to anyone, keeping his eyes fixed on a spot above Stormfly's horns. Astrid offered silent support, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning against his back. Every once in a while she would hear him let out a depressed sigh.

Rapunzel and Eugene were in a similar condition, but more miserable physically. Neither of them had ridden a dragon before, so they were fairly uncomfortable. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins either didn't notice the mood of the four others or simply chose to ignore it; they spent the long hours joking and bickering.

The group, amazingly enough, managed to find a small island riddled with caves, and found one large enough to host the dragons. After building a small fire, the small party settled down on the hard stone floor to sleep.

Rapunzel tossed around for a while, but eventually gave up and raised herself off the stone and gazed into the dying embers. The guilt, unlike the fire, had yet to begin fading away. She kept thinking over and over what she should have done to prevent the taking of Toothless and...

A small noise diverted her attention, and Rapunzel looked swiftly over to the dark corner where Hiccup and Astrid lay just a few feet from each other. Their fingertips brushed together, making it seem as though they had fallen asleep grasping each other's hands. Rapunzel studied them for a moment longer, and noticed that Hiccup was definitely not sleeping peacefully. His face was flushed and pained, and his left leg twitched occasionally.

As Rapunzel watched, he suddenly bolted upright, fingers wound tightly around his knee and his green eyes were screwed shut in agony. Rapunzel rushed to his side.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a frantic whisper.

Hiccup glanced at her through watery eyes and grit his teeth.

"Fine," he said.

"Can you go back to sleep?"

The teenager thought for a moment. "No," he said finally. "I doubt it." He joined her by the fire, his fingers massaging his leg in a circular pattern.

"Why are you still up?" he asked Rapunzel after a long silence.

Rapunzel let out a shaky sigh. "I couldn't sleep any better than you could."

"I imagine," he responded dryly.

"Umm..." Rapunzel hesitated, then blurted out, "I'm so sorry! I just wanted to help but I messed up really badly! I'm sorry!"

Hiccup blinked, shocked at the outburst. "Honestly..." he began slowly, "I kind of understand."

"You do?" Rapunzel's startled tone caused Snotlout to snort and roll over in his sleep, and she lowered her pitch. "I-I mean, I did something kind of horrible and now Toothless..."

"I was really mad at first," Hiccup interrupted. "But while we were flying, I did a lot of thinking."

"Did you?"

"I've probably done more thinking over the past few hours than most Vikings do in their lives, but that's not the point." Hiccup cracked the first smile he had in what felt like forever. "I thought, Toothless is really strong, and smart. Even if he couldn't fly he would find a way out of there somehow.

"Also," he continued. "I realize that I'm a bit of a hypocrite."

"What?" Rapunzel laughed disbelievingly. "How?"

Hiccup's breath rushed out. "I always used to mess up just as bad. Even worse, actually...like accidentally releasing a horde of captured dragons, setting the forge on fire, dropping a tree through the roof of the Mead Hall—don't even ask how that happened."

"I'm not asking," Rapunzel grinned.

"Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is..." Hiccup sighed again and ran his hands through his hair. "Oh Thor, what am I trying to say?"

"I wouldn't know."

"I suppose...I'm saying...I forgive you." Hiccup locked his green eyes on hers. "And I'm sorry for flipping out earlier."

"You...forgive me?" Rapunzel gasped. "Oh thank the sun!"

Hiccup snorted. "I would, if the Arctic Circle had any sun to thank."

The two of them smiled and laughed together, and Rapunzel couldn't be any happier of the relieved tension. She loved making friends, and hated it more to hurt them.

"Yeah, we'll get Toothless back," Hiccup said confidently, leaning back. "And hey, what's the betting we run into your parents on the way?"

"That would be great," Rapunzel agreed. "Not that I don't like it here, but I do kind of want to go home."

"Understandable," Hiccup nodded, but hissed sharply and suddenly reached for his leg again.

"What's the matter?" Rapunzel demanded, then immediately felt stupid. It was obvious what was wrong.

"Stupid thing," Hiccup groaned. "It still hasn't stopped..."

Rapunzel watched him try to rub the pain away, hating the helpless feeling it gave her. If only she still had a little bit of power, then maybe she could help at least a little...

Her eyes widened with the instant, crazy idea. What if...?

"Hiccup," she said softly, "may I try something?"

"What?"

"Um...roll your pants up."

He looked confused but did as she asked. Rapunzel situated herself next to the red, throbbing stump below his knee, and willed herself to begin crying. It wasn't difficult; the past few days had been so emotional it was easy convincing the tears to come.

A few teardrops landed on Hiccup's flesh, and he began to understand what she was trying to do. Then Rapunzel began to sing,

Flower, gleam and glow,

Let your power shine.

Make the clock reverse,

Bring back what once was mine.

The tears began to glow as they left her eyes, and though Hiccup was somewhat mind-blown he couldn't help but let out a heavy sigh of relief as the pain left his leg.

Heal what has been hurt,

Change the fate's design

Save what has been lost,

Bring back what once was mine,

What once was mine.

The song ended, the light faded. Rapunzel wiped her eyes, looking towards her friend apprehensively.

"Well...?"

Hiccup was gaping, staring from his leg to her and back again.

"I guess it wasn't enough to grow you a whole new leg..."

"W-wha..."

Rapunzel recognized the symptoms. "Don't freak out!"

His mouth closed with an audible snap. "I'm not. I am totally not freaking out. I saw absolutely nothing that would justify...freaking out..." Hiccup took several deep breaths. "So."

"So," she nodded.

"Was I your guinea pig for that, or..."

Rapunzel giggled. "No, I wasn't planning it. You just looked like you would appreciate a little relief. Does it feel better?"

Hiccup moved his ankle a little. "It...kind of feels completely normal, like I have two whole legs again. Was that the power you previously thought you lost? But it turns you didn't, apparently."

"That about sums it up."

"Well," Hiccup said. "What do we do now?"

Rapunzel looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, won't the Norge guys want to use this?"

"Simple," Rapunzel replied. "I'll just pretend I don't have it."

He blinked. "How would you pull that off?"

"It's only activated when I cry and sing at the same time, it seems like. I just have to not cry and sing."

"Sounds easy enough, I guess."

The conversation was ended abruptly by Tuffnut stirring awake and snapping, "For Odin's sake, shut the hell up and go to sleep!"

xXx

The king and queen of Corona currently huddled together in the dark brig of an unfamiliar ship. They didn't have any idea how long they had been down there, or if it was day or night, or what was going on above. After a very long while, there was a considerable amount of rocking and noise, as though a battle was taking place outside.

Maybe a few hours later, they really couldn't be sure, the door to the brig flew open with a bang and their captors began dragging in a large, struggling dark mass. The mass–which seemed to be some kind of animal–put up a good fight, but was eventually overpowered by the numbers the captors presented and forced into the cell next to the royals'.

The captors said something to it in a strange foreign language before shutting the heavy metal door and locking it securely.

The king and queen stared curiously at the new arrival, if it could be called that. After thrashing around for several minutes, the animal seemed to take notice of the two humans in the room.

Enormous, intelligent green eyes fixed on them with interest and suspicion. The queen inched forward to get a better look, and saw in the dim lighting the leathery black wings and long, uneven tail.

"H-honey," she breathed, holding her husband's arm. "Honey, that's a dragon."

The dragon rolled his eyes as if to say, "Obviously."

"But they're suppose to be extinct," the king whispered back.

The dragon rolled his eyes again and tried to find a comfortable position for laying down.

"...Alright, well, I suppose we can get used to that," the queen said cheerily, ever the optimist.

"I suppose," the king answered gruffly. "It would be better if they had brought in—"

"Honey," the queen interrupted firmly. "Nothing good would be gained if Rapunzel and Eugene were captured as well. I know you're worried–I am too," she added hastily as the king opened his mouth. "But I'm happier knowing that they haven't been captured, because there's the chance that they're safe and getting help."

The king nodded miserably. "You're right," he sighed. "But I don't want to lose Rapunzel again..."

The dragon's ears perked up at this.

xXx

Rapunzel? Toothless knew that name. He knew that girl, actually. She had gotten him to trust her extraordinarily quickly, and Toothless usually took a very long time to trust humans. Even months after the battle with the Green Death he was still wary around the Berk villagers, even knowing that they bore no more ill intent towards him anymore.

Toothless moved closer to the two humans in the cell next to him and inhaled. They definitely smelled like Rapunzel. He liked the smell; like flowers and the sun. The humans jumped, startled. They were just as nervous as he was, apparently. The woman who looked like Rapunzel slid forward.

"What's the matter, dragon?" she asked softly, and Toothless found himself drawn to her. She was like Rapunzel in demeanor too. Toothless remembered the conversation back on Berk, when he and Hiccup had first found the two strangers on the beach, and came to the conclusion that these were the parents Rapunzel had been missing.

Alright then. He stretched his nose out to them. The woman hesitantly reached out to him, stopping just short of his face. Toothless nodded slightly, and her eyes widened.

"You're very smart, huh?" she smiled, scratching his nose lightly.

"Dear..." the man warned. "Maybe you shouldn't..."

"Oh hush up," she said back. "Look how sweet he is."

"It's a dragon," the man said incredulously. Toothless let out an indignant snort in his direction. He didn't like the man as much.

"Do you know if Rapunzel's okay?" the woman asked, sounding as though she were joking. She must have been, because she and the man both looked equally shocked when Toothless nodded in affirmation.

"You know Rapunzel?" the man said, clearly not believing his eyes.

Toothless nodded again. What part of that wasn't clear? Humans... Hiccup would understand that in an instant. Then again, these people didn't seem like they had much experience with dragons. They had been surprised when they first saw him, after all.

"This dragon is smart," the man said disbelievingly. "I don't suppose you can talk as well?"

Toothless snorted again in annoyance. If he could talk, he certainly would have been doing it by now.

But these humans weren't so bad. He could probably tolerate them for however long they were locked up.

Which wouldn't be very long, Toothless decided. He really didn't like tight spaces.

**A/N:**

**This chapter hated me. AND I HATE IT. I was going at a rate of maybe three sentences a day before my little sister Luna Awesomesauce 1012 pretty much threatened me with bodily harm if I didn't get it done. You better be happy, Luna. Or not. You're still demanding more, greedy child. Most people only update one chapter at a time, you know.**

**I love the queen. I love the personality I gave her. I can't wait to write her some more :D**

**So anyway, Lion and I decided we have a deadline now. We're updating every Friday from now on and if we don't everyone has permission to scold us (this chapter is an exception because I was worried Luna would claw out my eyes if I kept her waiting any longer). This is because I decided to have my own deadline every Friday when I will update all of my important stories, and as this is an important story that is the day you can expect updates.**

**Also, I got a Tumblr: CosmicPickle. I don't have much up there yet, mostly just Suikoden XP**

**Long A/N is long. Thank you for reading and please, PLEASE REVIEW.**


	8. Chapter 8

The Night Fury moved intelligent green eyes, flickering them around the dark confines of the ship. His large tail curled close, trying to conserve some warmth. The dragon thought of ways to escape. Lighting it on fire was out of the question; he didn't want to harm Rapunzel's parents. The cage was too strong for him to escape from.

Waves beat against the side of the ship, rolling, tossing it mercilessly in its grasp. Toothless looked ever to the two humans, holding each other for some stability and comfort. His ears flapped forward, then back, testing the sound of the crew above, feeling the rush of eternal sea water that stretched forever. The dragon parted his mouth, breathing in the scent of the humans once more, greeted by the familiar sun smell.

Good humans.

_Good humans_, he reminded himself sternly, keeping his stronger instincts down, fighting the urge to burn them both to a crisp. He took note of the queen shivering with her husband. That dress, big as it might be, provided little to no warmth in this snow held land.

Toothless blinked, mind whirring in thought. Lifting his head, he trilled out a soft growl. They looked to him, fear plainly sketched across their features. The queen coughed, pale skin stretched across bone. How long since they first boarded on this ship? Weeks? Months? Or was it just days? However much time passed, it seemed to be enough for sickness to creep in to the southern royalty.

"What is it dragon?" the queen asked, voice hoarse.

Toothless made the same trill, then brushed his tail along the ground in their direction. The king and queen stared, hopelessly trying to figure out what the dragon wanted to say to them. The queen licked her dry, cracked lips, mind rotating.

Toothless made another growling sound at them, then brushed his tail back against the bars of his cage. He thudded his clawed paw on the ground, grunting.

The king pulled his wife back, inching her away. Toothless continued until they were against the far wall of their cell.

"What is he trying to tell us?" the queen murmured, eyes wide, staring in shock at the upset beast. "Something must be wrong."

"I told you he's just an animal. He can't understand us," the king gruffly whispered, eyes narrowing. He hugged his wife tighter, both watching in fear as the dark dragon became more and more wild.

(**)

Rapunzel woke up the next morning with a bad chill and a runny nose. Eugene touched her shoulder softly, "You okay blondie?"

"Yeah- yeah I'm fine," Rapunzel sniffed, rubbing her nose with her arm. She smirked when she recognized the name Eugene gave her during their first adventure together. The princess leaned her head back to smile at him, "Just a little worried."

Eugene smiled at her gently. Both looked up when Astrid walked up to a snoring Hiccup. The pair smirked when Astrid kicked the redhead, "Hiccup! Come on we need to get going!" The blonde frowned when he didn't respond, only rolling over away from her, sighing in his sleep.

"Hiccup!" she yelled, kicking him harder now.

The boy yelped, sitting up instantly. He rubbed his side, looking at Astrid painfully, "Ugh, _why _would you _do _that?"

"You wouldn't get up," she said, shrugging off his mild anger. Astrid crossed her arms over her chest. "Come on are we going to save Toothless or not?"

Hiccup yawned, standing up to his feet. "I'm coming I'm coming one second." He strapped on his metal foot, pulling up the leggings. Astrid looked away hurriedly when he did, receiving a narrowed glance from Rapunzel. The princess cracked a smile up her lips, giving Eugene a glance that made him chuckle at her. "Don't I know it," he murmured to her.

Suddenly embarrassed, Rapunzel blushed, looking away as he brought up the time when she rejected his proposal. She felt awed that he moved on so fast from the incident.

Eugene sensed her shame. Feeling a little guilty himself, the former thief went to go prepare the dragons for their flight.

(**)

The runaways ate some cooked birds for breakfast. Hiccup apologized to the princess for not having better food while Eugene wolfed his down, used to eating like this. Rapunzel smiled gratefully anyway, stating brightly, "Some food is better than no food!"

"Ever the optimist," Astrid observed as Rapunzel started chatting with the other viking teens. Hiccup chewed his meat quietly, thoughts adrift.

"She gets along with others pretty well," he commented, glancing at Astrid.

The girl nodded, "Lucky for us that we all get along so well. I'd rather not have a big drama fest. 'He likes her. She hates him. They love each other. . . ' Blah blah blah blah blah!"

Hiccup softly laughed, giving out the smallest hint of release. Astrid narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling like she could _see _the large burden on his back, weighing down his thoughts, his actions, his emotions.

_We need to find them_, she glanced to his foot before looking away, _for both of them._

(**)

The Queen gasped when Toothless suddenly looked right to her, light eyes narrowed to slits. A growl curled up the dragon's lips as held her gaze. The monstrous dragon stood up, walking forward so he pressed his face as far as they could. His jaws snapped open, a dark blue fire curling out as the Night Fury aimed directly at the ground. The floor creaked beneath the king and queen, both gasping in fear. The queen clutched on to her husband, a cry escaping her mouth.

The blue flames stilled, disappearing in to nothing. They both looked over to Toothless, who breathed fire on the stone floor, warming it up. The cat like creature curled upon the ground, moving a curious and innocent glance at the pair. A trillish purr came from his throat. The queen immediately offered a shy, kind smile.

An apology for frightening them.

The queen placed a hand on the floorboards beneath her, which were now a soothing, pleasant warm. The queen sighed as she pressed both hands to the wood, closing her eyes at the bliss of having some sort of heat to keep each other alive for a little longer.

The king stared in pure shock.

The queen opened wide emerald eyes. Toothless shifted where he lay, captivated by the likeness of the Rapunzel girl had with her mother, "Thank you," the woman whispered. "Thank you Dragon."

Toothless rolled his eyes at them good humoredly before closing them, allowing himself to sleep for just a little longer.

**(Typing outside after school on Thursday)**

**DEADLINES ARE STUPID! xo**

**Hatsu was the one who wanted them though, so I just went along with it. Trust me to wait until Thursday to actually start looking at this chapter. UGH.**

**I felt like I was just spewing writer barf all over this one, which would make sense because there's been a bug going around. . ..**

**anywayz, thank you for joining us for this chapter (even if I think it stunk) plz review! don't make us starve!**

**dont worry though we're not going to do the, "if you don't review we won't put up chapters" thing. Cuz that's just stupid and it makes people mad. XD**


	9. Chapter 9

Once they were done eating, the group mounted their dragons and took off flying over the sea once again. Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup and leaned into his back, pleased that the dark cloud that hung over him all of yesterday seemed to have lifted. The atmosphere of the whole group seemed lighter, and everyone spent the time jokingly bickering and shooting sarcastic insults at each other. Hiccup even smiled once or twice. He wasn't a big smiler in general, even after the war against dragons ended, and the fact that he was now showed how optimistic he was about their future chances in finding the dragons and Rapunzel's parents. It would certainly be easier with all the members of the group working together with no animosity between them.

Rapunzel caught Eugene's eye and grinned. He was flying behind Snotlout, and didn't look particularly happy about the situation. Rapunzel herself was situated behind Ruffnut on the twins' Zippleback. She had to cling on particularly tight to the younger girl because of her constant arguing with her brother. The two nearly knocked each other out of their seats a dozen times already, but Rapunzel wasn't too worried. If she or one of the others fell, then Hiccup could probably catch them. He wasn't as fluent in the air on Astrid's Nadder as he was on Toothless, of course, but he was still the best flier on Berk. Odds were he could easily drop into a dive and catch anyone about to fall to their death in the ocean.

The thought suddenly felt rather sickening to Rapunzel, and she tightened her grip around Ruffnut's waist. She needn't have worried, though, because after several hours of flying over rough water, the mainland was in sight. Fishlegs, who had the keenest eyesight, was the first to spot it and pointed it out to the others. The group got a good look at the ground as they were circling, trying to find a good place to land. Rocky cliffs jutted out from the shoreline, and the foamy grey waves crashed loudly against them. If you fell off one of those, you were dead, no questions asked.

"I see a place," Hiccup shouted over the wind. "Turn left, there's a beach we can land on."

The group followed his instructions, and within minutes were standing on the rocky beach, stretching their legs. The dragons swooped over the sea, gulping up large mouthfuls of fish. Hiccup plopped down on the ground, lightly massaging his leg. It wasn't really needed, however; he hadn't felt any pain since Rapunzel used her power on him the night before. The prosthetic now felt like a natural extension of his real leg, and it was an interesting feeling. Hiccup wasn't complaining though, he was living it up and hoping it would last.

Astrid sat down next to him, and after rummaging around in her bag she produced two strips of jerky, offering one to Hiccup. He accepted it gratefully and waited for her to say something. Eventually, after consuming—inhaling—nearly half her strip, she swallowed and said, "So what now?"

"Yeah," Snotlout said, joining them with the other teens and the Coronans, forming a semi-circle around the pair. "We're on the mainland, so where do we go now?"

"Are there any towns around here?" Tuffnut asked, reaching for Astrid's bag of provisions. She swatted his hand away, glaring. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his own.

Hiccup bit off another chunk of meat, chewing it thoughtfully before answering. "Well," he said finally. "I think there's a good chance that the dragons and the King and Queen are in the capitol city, don't you?"

"Only problem is…" Astrid said.

"…We don't know where that is," Hiccup admitted. "Fishlegs?"

The large blond boy shook his head. "Sorry."

"Twins?"

A simultaneous "Nope."

"I'm pushing my luck here, but…Snotlout?"

"Heh, as if!"

"And so the truth comes out." Hiccup threw his arms up. "Aren't we ignorant children?"

"Since when has there been a good reason for us to know about other places?" Ruffnut scoffed, tossing one of her thick braids over her shoulder. "We've never left Berk before now."

"It would be great if we had a map," Rapunzel said distantly, scanning the terrain for any sign of a road. There wasn't one.

Eugene let out a sudden curse, and everyone looked at him curiously as he rummaged around in his pockets. "I had a map," he explained. "I was studying it on the ship…I hope I still have it and it didn't get ruined when we jumped in the water."

All eyes watched him excitedly as he pulled out a rumpled square of canvas and unfolded it. "Yes! I still have it. Bit water damaged, but it'll do."

Hiccup reached for it and Eugene handed it over, looking proud of himself. The morale of the group went up several octaves.

The redhead spread the map out on the ground and everyone circled around it. "Here's Berk," Hiccup said, pointing to a small speck in the vast expanse of the ocean. "We flew in a straight line, so these small islands must be where we spent the night. So…" He traced a line straight across from the archipelago to the mainland. "…we must be here."

"There's a town right there," Astrid pointed out, covering a spot on the map with her finger. The ink had run in that area, smudging any name the place might have had. "And that big circle must be the capitol."

"We can fly the dragons close to the town, and then tell them to go wait at a certain spot for the night," Fishlegs chipped in.

Eugene raised his eyebrows. "Will the dragons understand that?" Behind him, Stormfly let out a loud and indignant snort.

"Dragons are smarter than you think," Hiccup replied dryly, folding the map back up and stuffing it into his vest. "If we tell them to go somewhere, then they'll know."

"I'll take your word for it," Eugene said sagely.

"You should," Astrid grinned. "Hiccup would know."

**A/N:**

**I wanted to put in a bit with Toothless and the* ~monarchs~* but then I got stuck and decided to just quit. Hey, I've pumped out three chapters for three different stories today and I plan on doing more, so cut me some slack. Actually….Luna won't. **

**She's next to me right now. **

**Judging me.**

…

**STOP JUDGING ME.**

**Ahem. Thank you for reading and please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

The King and Queen lifted their heads, stirred by the halting of the boat. Toothless stirred in his nearby cage, growling to himself, dark scaled tail lashing against the floorboards. Grass green eyes glinted wickedly as he watched some men come down, ropes held in their hands.

"Your Majesties," they sneered upon approaching them. Opening the cage door, the pair of men bound the King and Queen in tighter ropes, eyes focused on their task. After they completed that, they moved on to the dragon. Toothless growled in warning, eyes glinting sharply as they approached. A fierce snarl ripped from his throat as he backed against the wall, wings pressing firmly to his side.

"Steady now, beastie," the men whispered more softly, gentle to not anger the creature further.

Their efforts proved fruitless as Toothless whipped out a strong paw, claws extended out, aimed only to hurt. They jumped back, the dragon snarling viciously.

More men came down. Strong, muscled well, they managed to hold the fierce dragon down after distracting him with loud noises. Toothless fought against it but it jarred his mind, jumbling his thoughts so they scuttled around his brain, unable to grab hold of a single idea of escape.

"What do you plan to do with us?" The king asked, glaring darkly at the kidnappers. His wife stepped close to him as they led the pair up the steps onto the deck. The royals looked around swiftly, examining the area, searching for a way out. Only when the ruffians pulled them ahead with a jerk of the rope did they stop thinking of such things, though it remained a solitary hope in the back of their minds.

Toothless, on the other hand, never took his eyes off the blinking sky.

(**)

The group were herded into a castle high on a hill which overlooked the sea. Toothless remained feral as ever, always struggling against the bonds which held him, never settling down for defeat. Even if the humans decided to give up he would not.

"At least ell us why you're doing this!" the Queen exclaimed as they began to trek down a long winding staircase.

"Don't ask questions!" one snapped, lifting a torch high as they descended into the darkness.

"I will ask questions whether you like it or not!" the Queen retorted hotly, a little of her daughter's fiery determination showing. "Now what do you want with us? Who is the one leading you?"

The leader growled, turning towards the hostages, halting the rest of the guards. "What we plan to do with you and the beast is our business, and our business only. No more questions."

The Queen set her mouth in a thin line, glaring, bristling with rage in the manner he spoke to her. He began to turn when she loudly ordered, "Tell me what you plan to do with us."

Again stopping, the man stiffened his shoulders. He turned with painful slowness to the Queen, eyes turning dark with irritation. He held up his hand, snapping his fingers. In an instant, one of the guards from behind pulled the Queen back, holding a steady knife to her throat. With a growl the man answered, "We're going to cut you in to pieces then send you as a gift to your lovely daughter, that is if you don't shut up. Get the picture?"

The Queen continued to glare, but weakly nodded, eyes continuing to hold firm with rebellion.

They would not be held down.

(**)

Nearby, the young group of humans plus the dragons began to fly closer and closer to their kidnapped friends. They flew with purpose, determination and vigor. Hiccup urged Stormfly to move faster, Astrid remaining silent as she let her friend do the flying. Hiccup lay in the vast crevice of his thoughts which contained his worries and darkest fears.

They had to be alive. They just had to.

The team landed on the beach, all releasing an audible sigh of relief when the dragons touched ground. Stormfly flexed the claws, digging small marks into the sand. He looked briefly over his shoulder as his two passengers slid off, Hiccup losing his balance for a moment from being immobile for so long on the cerulean dragon.

"Hiccup, you all right?" Astrid asked as she neatly slid down the dragon's flank.

"Fine," he answered. He looked over his own shoulder as the others got down. Rapunzel fell into Eugene's arms, gasping softly as he easily caught her.

"Okay," Hiccup said as he looked around. He pulled out a mental image of the map. The town should be east of us from where we are. According to the map, there's a castle also."

The boy frowned, deepening his glare in thought as he closed his eyes, picturing the folded paper. "The castle. We'll head there."

The group nodded. Turning towards the dragons, which now clustered in a group, Hiccup ordered out, "Scout the area around the town with a three mile radius. If you see them, any trace of them at all, send a fire signal up into the sky. We'll see and head in your direction."

The dragons nodded, whirring to each other as they turned, taking off, lifting their powerful wings as they forced them through the air, cutting the wind as they flew. Stormfly took the lead, the others splitting off to circle the area.

Hiccup turned back to the others, "Ready?" he asked.

He got a few 'Yeah!' and 'All right let's go!' from the others, but the boy shifted his attention to the foreigners of the Sun Kingdom. "Rapunzel? Eugene?"

They looked to him, Rapunzel focusing strong eyes on him. "Yes?" she asked. Eugene remained silent.

Hiccup stared over her for a moment, the question he fel compelled to ask dying on his lips. The look in her eyes answered it.

"Nothing," he answered, moving forward, "let's just go."

The team followed in pursuit.

(**)

Toothless struggled harder against his captives as they locked him up in a cell with the two humans. They yelped in fear as they were pushed in so they fell to their hands and knees, scraping them. The black dragon glared fiercely to the captors, who spat at their feet before stalking back up the winding staircase.

He growled low in his throat before stalking back to the humans carefully, eying them cautiously to make sure they wouldn't overreact. With gentle fangs, the dragon took their hands in his mount, gently snapping the bounds that held their wrists together.

"Thank you," the Queen whispered, the King grunting softly in thanks.

Toothless nodded to them before curling back into a ball, wrapping his tail close to his nose. His flexible ears flapped as he listened to the sounds from above, scales prickling as he felt his friend slowly approach.

He would soon be free.

(**)

Hiccup gasped for air as him and the rest of the group staggered to the top crest of a hill, gazing up to the castle which loomed over them, a dark silhouette in the night. Astid came in behind him, containing her breathing with Snotlout coming in confidently behind her. "Well are we staying the night there or something?"

The boy blinked, licking his lips. "I don't know. Something feels wrong. Astrid?"

"Nothing good is coming from there," she confirmed, her own instincts prickling warily.

"I don't know. Looks fine to me," Fishlegs commented as the two foreigners walked up behind them.

"Yeah. It doesn't look so dangerous," Eugene decided as well, wrapping an arm around Rapunzel's waist.

Hiccup looked back over his shoulder, "Don't think like that or you'll never make it past the front entrance." The boy pointed a finger to the front entrance. "There are guards up there."

"So some royalty lives there," Ruff said, crossing his arms.

"Why wouldn't there be guards?" Tuff answered in synch, raising an eyebrow.

Hiccup looked back to the ominous castle. "Toothless is in there. I'm sure of it."

**(**)**

**hey guys, its Lion. **

**No, we're not dead.**

**Not yet anyway.**

**One reviewer advised this was getting boring, so I hope this gives a place for Hatsu to pick up on. **

**Hatsu: Said reviewer happens to be my sister and she pointed out a lot of things to us...**

**We're lazy writers. I wrote this all in one sitting within like 3 hours while multi-tasking between writing this, talking on facebook and watching a movie.**

**I wanted to go further with this chappie, but I think this is far enough. And its late, and i'm tired.**

**Thanks for not abandoning us! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

The two girls walked close together, two dark cloaks tied carefully around them so it hid their attire and faces. Both walked close to each other, a string of nerves jolting in their minds as a whole list of bad outcomes badgered them, refusing to grant any sort of peace.

"Hiccup, this better work," Astrid muttered again to herself as she recalled her boyfriend going over the plan with them _again_. Her chest itched in fear, causing her fingers to tingle with apprehension.

Would this turn out okay?

Rapunzel seemed equally as nervous, not used to pulling off these kinds of stunts, not by herself of course, because she was almost always with Eugene. Now she could only have him sit back so she could do her own part of the plan. Eugene instantly objected to Hiccup's plan when the young viking voiced it, only to have his plea shot down when Rapunzel opted to do it, Eugene's objections crumbling to nothing.

"I can do it," she whispered to herself, messy brown hair covered by the hood over her head.

The pair approached the city guards who stood watch at the gate. Rapunzel stepped a little closer to Astrid, her confidence dimming. Fortunately, the blonde teen took the lead as the guards called out for their names and reasons for being there.

"We travel from a distant city," Astrid answered humbly, keeping her eyes low, a sign of submission.

Both men looked over them, a younger of the two smiling kindly while the other held eyes snapping with suspicion. "Why do you come to our humble city? And without any male escorts?"

"Our husbands were killed in an accident while working. Since we couldn't pay the rent, we were kicked out from our homes. So we come here seeking refuge with our distant family," Astrid murmured again, voice laced thick with false grief.

Rapunzel caught a glance of sympathy from the younger guard, who instantly whispered a word of apologies to them, though he seemed a little brightened to hear two young, beautiful women that were no longer wed would be living in the city.

"We apologize for your loss," he said softly, giving a slight nod to his head.

The older guard shot a look to him, then to the girls. "You may enter. Welcome."

The quiet girls thanked them as they made their way into the city, the girls' hearts leaping with joy as they entered the tranquil city. Not many people were out this late, all except the drunk men, guards, then the occasional night owl or lusty teenager.

Both girls walked along quietly, making sure to bring no attention to themselves as they gently glided past the warm bodies, eyes calculating as they asserted the streets. There were plenty of alleys they could escape into, hide themselves in the shadows.

It took a couple hours as they made their way through the city, memorizing as much of it as they could. At last they reached the far back end of the city, staring from the shadows at the guards who watched for any suspicious figures as they guarded the gate entrance which led to the castle where the lord of the city watched over its people. Rapunzel examined the wall from a distance, judging its strength and height. Could they get over it? Maybe with help, but. . .

"Is it possible?" she whispered to Astrid.

"Oh please, Princess. Of course it's possible. We just take out the two guards and we're all good. And we have the air team," she smiled, easily brushing off Rapunzel's worries. "It'll take two seconds."

She started to straighten her crouched position in the shadows; Rapunzel snapped her hand forward, grabbing Astrid's wrist. "Wait, you're not going out there are you?"

Astrid laughed dryly, "Of course not. We can't go in without a team. We need to head back to the city gate. Come on."

**xXx**

The two girls waited for the guards to switch shifts (they didn't want to be questioned again) before they slid back outside, greeting the new guards warmly as they walked their tired feet to the crest of the hilltop where the rest of their team waited. Eugene greeted Rapunzel with a bone crushing hug, relief coursing through his body, "Eugene I'm fine!" she brushed, a little annoyed at his clinging.

While Eugene and Rapunzel softly spoke with each other to make sure each were okay, Astrid approached Hiccup, who watched her nervously, but straight-forward, the confident eyes of a leader, just as his father was.

"Well?" he asked in question.

"The only visible guards we could see leading to the castle were two. There might be more past the wall though, and there will definitely be more inside the castle. It should be fairly easy to make our way in," she reported, blowing the strands of hair out of her eyes.

Hiccup nodded, eyes narrowing down in thought as he pulled a hand through his dark red hair. "Okay. We'll head out tomorrow night."

Astrid nodded, the other viking teenagers agreeing softly, excitement at the mission lighting in their eyes. Rapunzel was the only one, along with Eugene, who looked a little uncertain as well. "So soon? Don't we need time to plan and work out the terrain first?"

"We don't have time to do that. We don't know how much time Toothless has, or your parents. The sooner we break into the castle, the better," Hiccup answered swiftly.

At his quick, certain and confident response, Rapunzel nodded softly, narrowing down her own eyes in thought. "Okay," she murmured. Her bright emerald eyes hardened as she lifted her head, determination growing from their depths as she asked, "What do you want us to do?"

Hiccup smirked at her, picking up a stick as he began to draw rapidly through the dirt and dust. "Okay, here's how it'll go. . ."

**xXx**

A thick slab of meat landed, slapping on the dungeon floor. Toothless stared at it, a roar, a growl rising in his throat. He looked up to the man standing over him, cruel, dark eyes glaring at him. The dragon returned the stare, eyes slits as another growl rose in his throat. His chest collapsed in as he inhaled the murky air, spitting it out at the meat in a rush of electric purple and white flames. What was left was a clump of darkened, crumbling charcoal.

"Ungrateful beast," the man spat, spitting phlegm on the ground.

The dragon recoiled from it, tail lashing. His dark ebony claws flashed out, a hiss mingled with a roar spitting out from his throat. The King and Queen sitting nearby flinched in fear at the sound, despite knowing the dark dragon stood on their side against their captors.

All beings turned their heads when they heard the great door to the dungeon open. Heavy, thick boots came down the stairs, thumping his feet down the hall corridor to the cell. He stopped before them, his face hidden by the light which darkened his features. The Queen and King looked on in puzzlement, disgust and hatred lingering behind their eyes as they glared daggers at the man who was responsible for their entrapment.

Toothless, able to see much better in the dark than they, recoiled, lips curling over ivory teeth, an aggressive, violent growl ripping from him. His back arched, wings lifting in an attempt to make himself look bigger, also acting as a protective shield for the humans behind him, pressing fearfully against the wall as they watched the dragon react so violently.

The show of aggression only amused the man, who chuckled, "Now, calm down dragon. You'll be out soon enough." He turned his head towards one of the guards, "Loosen the security tonight for a fortnight. That should be time enough."

"What do you want from us? All of us?" the bold Queen asked, also including Toothless into their little group.

A head turned. The Queen shivered, though she kept her valiant gaze on the man who held them captive. "Do you want money? Power? I can assure you there are other means than what you are doing."

A cold, cruel hand moved forward, tightening around one of the bars lining the cell. The brave Queen faced forward, her eyes only hardening more as the man growled out, "We don't want anything, not from you. You don't have anything to offer. It's the ones trying to get you back that will give something."

"You're using us for bait," the usually silent King dared to growl, large hand tightening into a fist. The defensive Toothless only hissed again in spite.

_Bait, _the word rang in all three of the prisoners' minds. Toothless shifted, claws scraping the stone beneath his paws, mind whirring in activity.

He knew Hiccup would be doing everything he could to get back to him. Their friendship proved that. They'd kept their friendship strong. Defeating an age old dragon and nearly dying tends to strengthen bonds with the people (and dragons) around you when death looms over your shoulder as an old friend.

The dark dragon clicked the pieces together. Hiccup was the village chief's son. He had influence (though not very much until certain events unfolded) and Stoic gave his son more care, understanding than he ever did before. The village was now prosperous, the dragons offering extra protection and making work ten times easier for the vikings with their resources.

Toothless started, understanding instantly. He snarled viciously, black tail lashing roughly over the rocky ground. He knew what they wanted, and they would never get it.

Of course, the two humans behind him had no idea what they had that their daughter could give.

Toothless seemed to know, because he chose to step back, closer to the humans in a form of protection. The humans released a small bit of tension knowing they had the dragon's loyalty, but they could only glare darkly at the man who walked away from them, the door slamming shut behind, echoing in the dark dungeon behind.

**xXx**

**But when they got there, they were ambushed and all died. The end. WUT NOW?**

**Well, I guess they didn't. Be funny if they did though, wouldn't it? *crickets* ok maybe not but STILL *cackles evilly and bounds into a dark forest* **

**Ooohhh this is Lion btw :D took a load off of Hatsu and did this chapter. and she's been bugging me about it ever since, and I would either forget or. . . . no i just forgot. **

**But I saw all the reviews and I was like' BAM! MOTIVATION!**

**This is what happens when you review; we are motivated to upload chapters **

**And I have a life. . . so it took me a while to get to this my sincerest apologies. NaNoWriMo takes up A LOT of time and I had a lighting job thing at the school cross town play. Then school started *gag* and I've been BUSY but HEY I uploaded didn't I? :D 3 TO YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING. That is all. I love you. Review more. That is all now. Ok. Bye. **

**You can stop reading this now. **

**No really. **

**Seriously.**

**Ok bye. **


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